Black Velvet
by krystalMage
Summary: NEW CHAPTER! Lily Luna Potter didn't care much for bad boys. So what if Scorpius Malfoy had the charm of the devil, the looks of a god and a motorcycle that would make Sirius Black proud? Lily X Scorpius
1. Chapter 1

**Summary**: Lily Luna Potter didn't care much for bad boys. So what if Scorpius Malfoy had the charm of the devil, the looks of a god and a motorcycle that would make Sirius Black proud? Lily X Scorpius

**Rating**: T

**Pairing**: Lily Luna Potter X Scorpius Malfoy

Finally posting this story! I have had a mind to try my hand at NectGen for quite some time now. Everyone who's waiting for updates on my RK fics, I will tackjle those next. As for now, do forgive the criminal mistake of abandoning the RK fandom to write this. Will be back there before long. I hope you will show me just as much encouragement here as you have for my Rurouni Kenshin fics.

Thank you **aclockworkat**, my phenomenal beta, who stops me from being lazy. This is for you!

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**Black Velvet**

Lily's lips parted in wonder. Her emerald eyes gleamed as she looked around the ballroom and smiled. Stars were sprinkled across the enchanted ceiling like diamonds on black velvet, the soft glow of a thousand candles lighting up the face of everyone she gazed upon. Women draped in elegant satins and silks seemed to glide across the crystalline dance floor, with arms sometimes entwined with their partners and other times held high in the air as the beat commanded. The walls were papered with white silk, six massive chandeliers of shimmering crystal evenly graced the ceilings throughout the ballroom. Huge French windows at the end of the ballroom led out onto a terrace that was illuminated by thousands of glowing spheres charmed to float about. It was a night to remember, a night when the air itself hummed with electricity, a night where she just _knew_, with all her heart – something big was going to happen. Something that would change her life forever.

As she stood on the threshold of the ballroom, looking inside with all the delight of a child and the breathless anticipation only an almost sixteen-year-old is capable of, she caught sight of her cousin Victoire, sweeping past in Teddy's arms. Lily felt her breath catch in her throat, as she observed the couple: Victoire's eyes were glued to Teddy's and the entire world could be burning, because it was only her and Teddy that mattered. Lily let her teeth sink into her lower lip, nervously, as she once again wished for _that_. That intangible something that made Teddy and Victoire strangers in a room full of people who knew them, who'd grown up with them, like two lovers from a romance novel. It was Lily's greatest desire.

Lily Luna Potter longed to fall in love. It was no surprise really. She reasoned that she had her parents, not to mention her grandparents (both sets) to blame for. Rose would say she was genetically programmed for it; what could possibly be more romantic than Harry and Ginny Potter's love story: torn apart by war, devastation, death, a dangerous quest, the fate of the world hanging by a thread, predetermination and woeful destiny – she'd write it into a novel if there was even the slightest chance that her father wouldn't kill her. He wasn't being difficult; he'd just had enough people poking their noses in his business since he was born and frankly, he'd had enough of that to last several lifetimes. Then there were her grandparents, James and Lily Potter I – again, love in desperate times, war, prejudice, the uncertainty of staying alive, thrice defying the great Evil of their times.

Lily frowned and snapped out of her living daydreams. She could dwell upon her ancestors' love lives later, right now, she had to do something to kick start her own.

Looking around, she spotted her mother waving gently at her from a table in the front row. Nodding her head slowly, she carefully placed her feet one in front of the other, painfully aware that she had never worn such high heels, and if she could, she would murder her cousin Dominique, for talking her into them. Sleek and sexy Dominique had an inbuilt sixth sense that transformed everything she wore into a fashion statement. Hell, Dominique could probably wear bright red robes with huge orange polka dots and still end up looking as cool as a cat. Not for the first time, she rued the fact that neither of her parents had even an ounce of Veela blood between them. She felt like she was walking on stilts and it took every ounce of resilience to restrain herself from simply scooping up her heels and walking about barefoot. But she'd look like a right idiot if she tried anything like that, so she simply grit her teeth and ignored the spikes of pain shooting up the pads of her feet.

She grasped the back of a chair and pulled it out. , but only moments before she was about to sit on the elegant chair of her dinner table, a voice summoned her attention. "Lily? , sweetie, is that you?"

Lily turned her attention towards the voice, smiling as an elegant lady clad in a steel grey satin dress slowly made her way towards her. The woman was tall and stately, her eyes of the same colour as her dress and her aristocratic features bestowed an effortless grace upon her person. Her eyes gleamed with good humour. "I almost didn't recognise you."

Lily grinned, cheekily. "So good to see you too, Nana Tonks."

Andromeda Tonks smiled benignly before turning to the older, red-haired beauty at the table. "When did your daughter grow up?" She raised an eyebrow as Lily blinked and turned away. Andromeda's smile grew wider as she noticed the girl's reaction.

Ginny smiled, proudly sliding her arm around her daughter's waist. "I know what you mean; I didn't recognise her myself when I saw her." Lily rolled her eyes at this. Apparently nobody in her family had noticed the fact that she didn't wear nappies anymore, until a few hours ago. Wasn't that lovely? Nobody had given any thought to what a teenager, blossoming into a woman looked like. She'd been getting the 'I-hardly-recognised-you' routine, ever since she'd emerged from her room that same day. Her father had been the first, he'd taken one look at her, blinked in surprise and remarked, "Lil, is that you? When did you get so tall?"

Her eldest brother, James had smirked and said. "You clean up nice Lily-flower. Nobody would guess it's you."

Her other brother, Albus, of course had been the most annoying of the lot, indignantly demanding "What the bloody hell do you think you're wearing? Go change right now." He was such a prick, Lily had thought with disdain, he wouldn't know style if it hit him in the face.

She'd been out shopping with Rose and Dom when she had finally found it. She knew it was _the_ dress the minute she'd laid her eyes on it. After two years of frantic and desperate begging, her parents had deigned to allow her to accompany them to this Ball; it would be the first Ministry Ball she'd experience in person and she wasn't about to show up in a potato sack. The dress was perfect: It adhered to her curves like a second skin. It was a black crepe affair with a classy boat-shaped neckline, accentuating her delicate collarbones. At the back, very sheer net covered her back down to her waist; the impact was inescapable. It felt as though her back was bare, when it actually wasn't. The dress ended a few daring inches under her bottom, showing off her slender, shapely legs seductively. It was a _real _grown-up dress. Dom had called it the "back me up against a wall" dress. Rose had been slightly more decent about it, as was usual.

Lily schooled her expression to one of polite interest and tuned out whatever her mother and Nana Tonks were talking about, more interested in seeing what was happening around her. She recognised a lot of people from school, mostly fifth and sixth years across house lines. It wasn't that she didn't know a lot of Seventh years, she just tended to avoid them. Most of the Gryffindor seventh years adopted Albus's protective attitude towards her and while it was sweet in the beginning, it was simply stifling now. Sadly, she knew very few Slytherins. She suspected that a lot of them were turned off by the Potter-Weasley clan in general and it actually had very little to do with her. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were little bit better, but the rigorous and relentless flirting was becoming a slight turn off. And it also annoyed her boyfriend grandly.

Lucas Jenner stood at the other end of the ballroom, watching her surreptitiously, between answering his parents with monosyllabic words. How cliché, she thought. His dark eyes grew wide as she casually turned her back towards him, pretending to look for somebody. But cliché was nice sometimes, and sometimes cliché was just the thing to make your toes tingle inside the high heels that will kill your feet before the night is out. Lily waited for it; the familiar tingling sensation that accompanied looking at Lucas Jenner, not just because he was her boyfriend, but because he was the most handsome boy she knew. She felt her pulse throb as he smiled at her. Pretty as picture, Rose would say. 'How often do you dust him?', Dom would ask. Alas, Dom had never liked Lucas.

She thought his eyes were shifty, that his brain was paralysed and that his attitude belonged in a book of fairy tales. Put simply, she didn't trust him with Lily at all. Lily grimaced internally at the thought of her cousin Dom, who liked _men_ and, unfortunately, thought Lucas was still too much of a boy to get her approval. Lily still cringed at the memory of the row that erupted when her Aunt Fleur found her daughter, kissing one of her Dad's colleagues at last year's Christmas party. Needless to say, it was not pretty. Contrary to what most people thought, Dom didn't mean any harm by it. It was more of a joke than anything else, she had found it amusing. There was so much more to Dominique Weasley than simply being impossibly beautiful and poised. But, sadly, nobody seemed to understand. So Dom constructed this outrageous persona of a flirty, flighty girl and the irony was that few people ever realised that the girl hidden inside was as tough as nails.

Dom scoffed at the way Lucas held Lily's hand oh so gently, as if she were made of glass. She had trouble keeping her laughter under wraps as he always chastely kissed her forehead before walking away. No, Dom was not a fan of Lucas, but Lily really wished she would come to like him. It would make life so much easier, she thought with a sigh. After a while, it became tedious having to defend your boyfriend to your best friend, one she could not do without.

As he walked towards her, she let her eyes roam over his frame. His clothes the image of perfection, his shoes so clean they reflected like mirrors; his hair wavy and soft to the touch. He would stop before her and press his warm lips against hers. And then, they would dance. At this thought, her mind buckled violently. They would dance pleasantly, unlike Teddy and Victoire, because although Lucas was a gentleman, treated her like a princess, adored her with his eyes and words, was patient, and kind, and soft, and sweet, she wasn't _in love_ with him. And in that horrific moment before he reached her side, she knew she never would.

"Lily," he breathed deeply, staring at her as though seeing her for the first time. "You look beautiful." She blinked, still reeling from the realization. Turning the corners of her mouth up, she was relieved but also annoyed to see that Lucas found nothing missing in her smile. He leaned close and kissed her forehead. She glared at him, making him laugh.

Setting his glass on the table, he pulled her into his arms, and softly closed his mouth over hers. Lily closed her eyes, eager to drown in his warmth, but he pulled away all too soon and led her towards the dance floor. Lily briefly caught Dom's eye and her wayward cousin was not impressed, rolling her eyes and turning her attention back to flirting with the man she'd been talking to.

Lucas held her close; his hand resting firmly in the small of her back. As they begun to move and sway across the dance floor, that knot of apprehension and doubt slowly begun to unravel inside her chest. Lily smiled, this time sincerely, and Lucas was captivated by the sudden fire in her eyes. As he twirled her around, she threw her head back, laughing. They were lost in their own world and Lily felt safe, once again. Maybe it wasn't time yet. Love was supposed to sneak up on you when you least expected it, why should this be any different? She could fall in love with Lucas one day, she was certain of it. The time just wasn't right. But it would be. Eventually.

X

Dom scowled; plucking a flute from the champagne triangle, she glided down the ballroom, and out the French windows at the other end. Making her way to the edge of the balcony, she nonchalantly approached the tangled mass of red hair, white dress and discarded heels that were Rose.

"Rose." She began, there was no response save for an annoyed grunt from her cousin's male companion. Dom rolled her eyes. "Oh Rosie…."

The red haired girl immediately sat up straight, her amorous mood utterly destroyed by the mention of her childhood nickname. "Tsk-tsk, Dom; how many times must I tell you never, ever to call me that?" Rose turned to glare at her cousin. Her blue eyes flashed dangerously. Dominique wondered in passing if she'd have to contend with the legendary Weasley temper that Rose had inherited in spades from her father. The boy lying underneath her on the bench sighed and gently extricated himself from the red-haired girl's arms.

"S'up Dom?" Damien Shacklebolt was one of the very rare, very few people who didn't provoke Dom's infamous Veela temper. He was a few years older than Rose and well on his way to becoming an Auror. He pulled his girlfriend onto his lap and gestured for Dom to take a seat. "You look like you want to punch somebody." His black eyes gleamed with mirth and he pulled Rose deeper into his embrace, unwilling to let her go. Auror training was tough and he had his father's colossal reputation to live up to. He hardly got the chance to see Rose these days, so he made the most of what time he got with her.

"What's the point?" Dominique huffed and sat down. She kicked her heels off. "Even if I did, he'd get patched up eventually and then he'd get to play the pity card as well. It's not worth it." She rolled her eyes in disdain, telling them exactly what she thought.

Rose stared back at her cousin, brow furrowed in concern. "Dom, what's wrong?" It wasn't like Dom to be glum, especially not at a time like this. Normally, she would be fighting off the offers to dance from the thousands of men who gathered around her wherever she went.

Dominique twirled the flute elegantly with her fingers and murmured, "Doofus Jenner." Rose and Damien exchanged an exasperated look before turning to her.

Rose groaned, unwilling to talk on this subject again after the first three hundred times. "Dom, I thought we were over this. You have to let this go. You promised Lily."

Dominique glared back at Rose, snapping testily. "I promised Lily I'd be civil to him. I didn't promise to be sincere about it."

Damien chuckled, thoroughly amused at how wholeheartedly Dominique seemed to loathe her favourite cousin's boyfriend. "I don't get it. Why do you hate that guy so much?"

Dominique sighed. "Because he's fake. He pretends to be oh-so-charming when he's just as crass as the rest of those losers trying to jump into Lily's knickers." She shook her head. "I don't know. I really don't trust him. I just get this really bad feeling from him. She could do much better." And she knew she was right. Lily was the sweetest person she knew and it drove her crazy how blind she was regarding Lucas. That guy was no good for her.

Rose glanced at her cousin and wrapped an arm around her shoulder comfortingly. "Dom, you're overreacting. Lucas is okay. Besides, he's pretty good for a first boyfriend. He pampers her a lot. You know she likes that." Rose slipped her feet into her shoes and flipped her hair over her bare shoulders, her lips quirking into a self-satisfied smile as she noticed Damien staring at her.

Not one to give up easily, Dom persisted. "He's corny."

"You're just looking for excuses to hate him." Rose smiled, recognising the signs that Dominique had run out of ideas to berate Lucas.

"He's Ravenclaw." Dominique mumbled.

"Oh shut up, Dom." Rose laughed. Damien shook his head, his lips split in a wide grin.

Dominique shrugged. "His hair is weird."

Rose and Damien groaned. "Dom…"

X

Having finished her dance with Lucas, Lily settled down onto her seat before her toes fell off in protest, while Lucas made his way to converse with his grandparents. He came from a long line of wizards who had remained firmly neutral during both wars. The Jenner's were an old family, not as old or important as the Potters or the Blacks, but old enough to have representation on the Wizengamot. She had never met his family formally and although Lucas kept dropping hints to introduce her to them properly, she never quite warmed up to the idea. She was the child of the Chosen One and niece of the greatest group of war heroes the Wizarding world had ever seen. The concept of staying neutral to preserve or protect your family was something she simply could not understand. She didn't hold it against Lucas, how could she? He, like her, hadn't been born then. Even so, she didn't know if she could trust herself not to react to a family of fence-sitters when her own family had suffered so terribly because of the war.

Shaking these gloomy thoughts away, she looked around the dance floor to find many recognisable faces; in recent years, the Ministry had made several attempts to incorporate contemporary Muggle culture into the Wizarding community. While a lot of the traditionalists viewed it as an unnecessary appeasement, the growing Muggle-born factions welcomed it as a move that was long overdue. And so, the charmed orchestra was gearing up to a salsa beat. Lily grinned as she spotted James burning up the dance floor with his girlfriend Katerina; they were the centre of attentions as James lifted her high in the air in a maverick dance move.

A mellow voice beside her spoke, "Does he ever quit showing off?" Lily laughed and spun in her seat to face a short girl with dark curly hair styled in a chic bob and humorous, intelligent brown eyes. Roxanne Weasley was easily her coolest cousin: nothing fazed her. Not Fred hitting a bludger straight to her head, not James nearly pushing her off the Astronomy Tower, not Dom kissing the boy she'd crushed on for ages 'by mistake', not even Rose when she was on OWL study prep. Roxanne was like their generation's Rock of Gibraltar; she never lost her cool, never spoke a word more than absolutely necessary and never, ever failed to get even. James reckoned that if you ever wanted a second in a duel, Roxanne was the one you called.

"Katerina's been gone for a really long time, I guess he missed her." Lily shrugged. Her brother's devotion to the fiery brunette was as surprising as it was sweet; everyone expected James to be some sort of ladies' man because he flirted outrageously with the entirety of Hogwarts' female population, excluding his cousins and sister, but the truth was he'd never even been on a date before Katerina.

"Hmmm, I guess that gives him a right to prance about. Where's Doofus?" Roxanne looked around with interest, stopping to smile as she caught the eye of one of their numerous cousins. Lily pursed her lips not bothering to rise to the bait. She couldn't comprehend how the two people she was closest in the world, inexplicably hated her boyfriend. Nothing brought Roxanne and Dominique together like their common dislike of Lucas.

"Stop calling him that. He has a name." Lily glared at Roxanne, who shrugged nonchalantly. She was unashamedly candid about her opinion of Lucas Jenner.

"Who has a name?" Damien Shacklebolt's velvety voice broke the icy atmosphere of the girl's table.

Lily and Roxanne both turned to greet the newcomers: Damien, Rose and Dominique. The couple slipped into the chairs beside Roxanne, while Dom fell into the chair opposite Lily.

Roxanne began to speak, but her voice was drowned out by a loud droning sound that made everybody stiffen. People on surroundings tables stopped their conversations and began to look around, searching the cause for all the commotion. Lily saw her father turn sharply before striding to the windows leading to the sundeck.

"What's going on?" Someone seated at the adjacent table tapped Damien's shoulder. Damien shrugged.

"What's that noise?" A man asked in irritation from the table beside them. Lily glanced at him sparingly and rolled her eyes as she recognised him as Ignatius Winters. Uncle Ron called him 'Whiner Extraordinaire'. The man had something to complain about every single time you met him.

Helena Tyndale sat with her daughter Persephone at a table behind them; she looked around nervously and gripped her daughter's hand. "Are we under attack?"

Lily kept her eyes on her father, her shoulders tensing as she watched him focus upon something outside the window, and then instantly her trepidation disappeared as he snorted, then shook his head before turning to the nervous crowd in the ballroom and waving everyone back to their seats. He smiled and gestured for everybody to return to their seats.

The strange noise had died down and since the Chosen One himself was telling them to take it in stride, people returned to their conversations and dances.

Even as her cousins speculated about the source of the strange noise, Lily stood and walked over to her father. She failed to notice the strained and tense expressions on the faces of the Malfoy family sitting a few tables away from her. Lucius Malfoy's once-elegant, silvery-blonde mane was now grizzled with greys. His shoulders were slightly bent but his eyes were as sharp and unrelenting as ever. He gripped the top of an ebony cane even as he glared at the man sitting beside him, who was pointedly avoiding his eyes.

Lucius curled his lip viciously and sneered, "I suppose we have your son to thank for this commotion Draco."

Draco took a small sip from his champagne flute before setting it down. He avoided looking at the older man as he replied, "I'm not sure I understand your meaning Father."

Lucius Malfoy snorted. "Of course. Why would you understand? Every time your son", he spat the word with such vehemence that the two ladies seated at the table glanced at each nervously, "does something to dishonour and discredit this family, you don't understand." The women looked towards the entrance to the ballroom with a fair amount of apprehension. It was not unheard of for the Heir of the Malfoy Family to have an acerbic verbal disagreement with the Pater Familias but they sincerely hoped that today was not one of those days.

Meanwhile Lily had reached her father and eagerly tugged on his sleeve to get his attention. Harry Potter looked away from the Minister of Magic with whom he'd been engaged in a conversation.

"Lily!" He looked at her with some confusion. "Is something wrong?"

Lily smiled innocently. "Can't a girl want a word with her father?" Her eyes twinkled and Harry groaned inwardly. Trouble was on the way when Lily got that look in her eyes. He could swear she got it from Ginny. He excused himself from Kingsley Shacklebolt and raised an eyebrow as his daughter tucked her arm around his and led him away.

"Okay," Harry raised an eyebrow as Lily dragged him towards the French windows. He chuckled as she looked around to check if anybody was within earshot. "What's going on, Lil?" Harry asked conspiratorially.

Lily blinked, pretending as though she didn't understand. "Daddy, what do you mean?"

Harry smirked. "Lily, I became immune to the Bambi eyes when you let a faulty broom prototype loose in Quality Quidditch Supplies when we went shopping for Hogwarts. What is it?" Harry casually picked up a champagne flute and quirked an eyebrow up at his daughter.

Lily tried hard to maintain a straight face, but failed to curb her bubbling laughter as Harry once more quirked his eyebrow. She couldn't help it. He just looked so funny when he did that. "Oh fine, you caught me. What was that noise? It sounded so weird."

Harry chuckled. "Oh that. Nothing. I presume one of the young blokes got a motorcycle. That's what the noise was. It was a motorcycle."

Lily felt her lips part in surprise. "A motorcycle? Really? Wait, you mean, like Sirius's motorcycle?" Her eyes grew wide and her entire face lit up with excitement. A real motorcycle! Her brothers never let her reach within touching distance of the legendary Morning Star as James called it. He thought he was so clever for it. Prat. What was so cool about calling the bike after its former owner? Anybody could do that.

Harry paused. His eyes seemed to glaze over as though he was seeing something else. Slowly, he turned to her and nodded. "Yeah, now that I think about it, it's a lot like his motorcycle." He shook his head. "Funny, how these things go. Forty years ago, if someone rode a motorcycle to a Wizarding formal like this, people would have been just as scandalised."

Lily bit her lip and looked to the door. Nobody had entered in the last ten minutes; with any luck, the person riding the motorcycle was probably still outside. She was still revelling in the wonder of it all when someone else came and commandeered her father's attention. As Harry walked away, the entrance to the ballroom became visible. She was suddenly possessed with the idea of seeing the motorcycle. She looked around quickly. Everyone was busy with their respective dance partners or talking, nobody would notice if she slipped away just for a minute. She could go and come back before anybody realised. Her breath quickened and her nerves tingled with the excitement of knowing she was doing something that was not allowed. Her parents were very protective of her and never allowed her any place where she'd be out of sight. Besides, it was only for a minute. What could possibly happen in the space of a minute?

Lily knew that if somebody caught her sneaking away from her parents just to go stare at a motorcycle, they'd call her crazy. But, it wasn't so simple. It wasn't just a motorcycle – not for her, at least. It meant so much more. Of all the stories her father had told her, her favourites were the ones which talked about Sirius Black. She blushed as she remembered her eighth birthday, when Grandma Weasley had made her this huge cake and asked her to wish for something, she had loudly proclaimed that she was going to grow up and marry Sirius Black, much to the amusement of all her family. She had been infatuated with the idea of him, and to an extent she still was.

She quickly made her way out to the grand foyer and slipped out into the gardens beyond which served as the parking space where people had parked their magically enhanced motor vehicles. She looked around in excitement, hoping to catch just a glimpse of it. As she turned this way and that, her heel caught on a loose pebble and she stumbled. A gasp escaped her lips and she held an arm out to brace her fall when she suddenly felt a steely grip on her waist. She felt her body being pulled against gravity, as someone yanked her back to her feet. Her cheek brushed against something soft and warm. Blinking, she looked up.

In the darkness of the night, she couldn't make out much of his face, but his grip on her waist was firm. She felt his lips shift into a smirk. Her stomach seemed to flip as a deep voice sounded in her ear like a whisper, "You alright, love?"

A shiver raced down her spine as his silky voice sounded in her ears, doing very strange and unexpected things to her brain. Her lips seemed to have stuck together and her mouth seemed stuffed with cotton wool. She swallowed thickly, "Gummmffft." She blinked in embarrassment, mortified that she couldn't even string together a comprehensible sentence.

He tilted his head to the side. A stray beam of light from the mansion illuminated silvery blonde hair that framed his face in bangs. His brows furrowed elegantly as he attempted to understand. "What?"

"Abundufff." She shook her head, cursing her fickle hormones for overpowering her common sense. He was just a boy, alright, make that a very _very_ handsome I'd-snog-you-senseless-if-I-weren't-already-seeing-someone-else kind of boy. There was no need to act like a gobsmacked tart. She bit her lip and tried again. "S-sorry." Rolling her eyes at herself, she sighed, thanking the stars that her embarrassment was cut short.

He laughed. "There's nothing to apologise about, love. You okay?" He stepped back, letting go of her. The cold night air hit her side and she shivered through the thin cloth of her dress.

She looked back towards the mansion, knowing someone would be out looking for her soon. "Um, I'm alright. Oh, thank you!" She bit her lip. Great, she'd been so busy looking for the motorcycle, that she'd completely forgotten to thank the man responsible for saving her from a cut cheek and a ruined dress at the very least.

As the boy glanced up at her, she took some time to appraise him more closely; his skin was pale, his eyes a stormy grey, the air of aristocracy present on the way he carried himself. He gave her a lopsided smile. "Don't worry about it." He looked her up and down, eyes lighting in appreciation in some places. Lily frowned slightly and crossed her arms over her chest, nervous for some strange reason. "You waiting for somebody?"

Lily looked at him. "Oh, no. I was just -" Her shoulders slumped in defeat. "I heard something and came out looking for it." She glanced up at him. He was staring at her with both eyebrows raised, looking very unconvinced.

"Of course. What'd you hear?"

"Well." Lily looked around again. "Somebody rode a motorcycle here. I just wanted to see it." She shrugged.

The boy stared at her intensely before breaking into a smile. "Is that right?"

She smiled sheepishly. "Yes."

"Well, you did come all the way out here, and you almost hurt yourself too." He slowly walked around her in a circle. Lily looked at him as though he was a madman. "Well, I reckon you're worthy then. Come on." He grabbed her wrist and pulled her deeper into the garden that had been turned into a parking space.

Lily tugged on her wrist. "Hey! Wait. What do you think you're doing?"

He pulled her forward. Lily was about to snap at him when she felt her lips part in wonder. There, in front of her, stood a gleaming, beautiful black motorcycle. She blinked. She looked at the boy, who simply smirked back at her.

"Y-you – I mean –this is your motorcycle?"

The boy ran a hand lovingly over it. "Yeah. Beautiful, isn't she?"

Lily nodded without a moment's hesitation. "Yes. Yes, she is." She stepped forward, her fingers itching to touch the shining steel. The boy stepped back. His eyes glinted in appreciation as she reverentially put her fingers on it. He leaned back and watched her, a slow smile stretching on his lips.

They stood silently, both lost in separate thoughts. For Lily, it was a moment of affirmation, of remembrance of a loved one. It was perhaps a simple thing for other people but to her, it was a symbol of a life lived dangerously, recklessly, without pause, without fear. She stood silently until the sound of another person's shoes echoed on the asphalt.

"Lily! Lily! Where are – oh, there you are!" Lucas appeared from behind a hedge. "Where did you run off to? Everyone's worried. And –"he suddenly noticed the other boy.

Lucas frowned, and slipped his arm around Lily's waist, pulling her away from the motorcycle. The spell had broken; Lily looked at him in confusion, even as his fingers grasped her body tightly. He glared venomously at the boy who stood half bathed in light of the charmed lanterns and half in the shadows. Lucas looked furious and it scared Lily a bit. She'd never seen him look like that before. "Lucas, what happened?"

Lucas tore his eyes away from the other boy to his girlfriend. "You just ran out of the ballroom Lily! What were you thinking?"

Caught completely by surprise by this new side of Lucas, Lily stuttered, "I-I just wanted –"

"That doesn't matter anymore. I've found you. Let's go." He glared at the boy standing nonchalantly in the shadows.

"But Lucas, wait." Lily firmly dug her heels in. She still had to thank the boy and she didn't even know his name. She turned to him. "I'm so sorry. I didn't even get your name."

The boy leaned against his motorcycle casually. Lucas gaped at Lily in disbelief, his wounded expression speaking volumes but she ignored him. She didn't know what his problem with the other boy was but he had helped her and her parents had raised her to acknowledge and appreciate that; it was not something she'd change for anything.

"Lucas." She tugged at his hand. He frowned but gave a slight nod. She looked at the other boy. "I'm Lily Potter and this is Lucas Jenner – "

"Her _boyfriend_." Lucas stated with great emphasis. The boy looked from him to Lily and very slowly raised an eyebrow. Lucas bristled and fought the irrepressible desire to go ape-shit on the cheeky bastard.

"Scorpius Malfoy," the boy replied silkily, stepping forward. Taking Lily's hand, he bent his head over it and gently brushed his lips against the skin of her hand. Lily's eyes grew wide and her lips parted in surprise. She could only stare at him in shock. Nobody she knew had the nerve to be so forward with her. Hadn't Lucas just introduced himself as her boyfriend? Speaking of Lucas….

Lily watched in shock as Lucas swept in front of her and yanked her hand away from Scorpius, who didn't look even the slightest bit surprised. He smirked at Lucas. Lucas looked like he was going to hit him. Alarm bells rang in Lily's mind and she snapped out of her trance. Tugging Lucas by the hand, she pulled him away from Scorpius. "Lucas, let's go. Lucas!"

Lucas's anger evaporated away as Lily beamed at him. "You're right." Lucas turned. He moved so he stood between Lily and Scorpius. "Lily, your father will be worried. We have to go back."

"Okay." She let Lucas wrap his arm around her, leading her back to the glittering lights of the mansion. Neither noticed the stormy grey gaze following them as they walked away.

X

"Where have you been?" Dominique hissed. Lily quickly got into her seat and discreetly slipped her heels off. She shrugged and shook her head.

"Just went out for some fresh air."

Dominique rolled her eyes. "If you were snogging your boyfriend, just say so; spare me the cover stories."

"It's not a cover story!" Lily hissed back. Roxanne suddenly nudged her. Lily looked at her distractedly.

Roxanne was staring at the entrance, smiling widely. She gestured towards the entrance with a slight tilt of her head. "Look what just walked in."

Lily and Dominique looked over. Dominique immediately sat up straighter. Lily felt both her eyebrows rise as she recognised the tall, lean boy who walked in. He was wearing a black tuxedo. He hadn't bothered to cover it with a robe; obviously the intention was to keep the look Muggle. Silvery blonde hair fell effortlessly in a just-got-off-a-broom style. He had high cheekbones, a straight, aristocratic nose and watchful grey eyes. He strode confidently through the ballroom until he reached the Malfoy table directly opposite from theirs, across the dance floor.

Dominique grinned. "Who is that guy in that gorgeous Armani suit?"

Roxanne glanced at her. "You don't recognise him? It's Scorpius Malfoy." Lily snapped her head up, eyes wide. Roxanne continued. "He's grown his hair longer. I remember he had it really short all last year." She grinned. "He looks delicious."

Lily watched carefully as he sat on a chair beside his mother, Astoria Malfoy and kissed her cheek. On his other side, Narcissa Malfoy gently raised a hand to his cheek and smiled at him. The situation seemed to tense as Lucius Malfoy sneered at him, but he offered no response save a single blank look in return. Scorpius stood and after exchanging a few words with his father, strode away.

As he walked past their table, his eyes caught Lily's and he paused. He looked as though he would have approached her, when a boy dressed in dark indigo dress robes grasped his elbow and engaged him in conversation. He threw a few more glances back towards Lily, causing her to feel a strange fluttering inside her chest, as he turned to walk away and flashed a smile in Lily's direction before he went.

Roxanne laughed and Dom bit her lip, trying to hide her smile. "Oh my god, I just came."

Lily flushed and looked down. He had smiled at her, and or some reason, that fact was sending tiny jolts of electricity racing down her spine. Quietly, she turned her hand over in her lap. She pressed the pad of her thumb over the spot where his lips had met her skin, and as his name slowly took over her thoughts.

_Scorpius Malfoy_.

**Author's Note**

Please comment


	2. Sleepovers, Secrets and Summer Girls

**Summary:** Lily Luna Potter didn't care much for bad boys. So what if Scorpius Malfoy had the charm of the devil, the looks of a god and a motorcycle that would make Sirius Black proud? Lily X Scorpius

**Rating**: T

**Disclaimer**: Harry Potter and all its characters are the creative property of JK Rowling, who seriously needs to come back to writing about wizards.

Thank you everyone who reviewed and/or favourited this story or decided to follow it. You're in for a awesome ride, I can guarantee that.

To my fantastic Beta Cat, this chapter would never have seen the light of day without you. You totally rock girl!

Cat made this gorgeous banner for this story. You can see it on my LJ, here- mottledmuse . livejournal 3598 . html

Just erase all the spaces and you have the link.

* * *

**Black Velvet**

**Chapter 2: Sleepovers, Secrets, and Summer Girls**

"Goodnight Mum!" called Lily, as the girls listened until the last of her footsteps faded into the silence of the house.

After the ball had ended, they had all agreed that a slumber party was in order, at Lily's. Because her room was _awesome_. On Lily's 15th birthday, her parents had hired the magical architecture genius the Viscount Maximillian Esterhazy to redo her room. After numerous discussions upon the possibilities and ideas from Lily herself, the eccentric architect had produced a blueprint that mirrored the Hogwarts School Room of Requirement. Lily had been ecstatic and her parents had agreed, after several reassurances from Esterhazy that nothing dangerous or hazardous to Lily would ever appear within the confines of the room. So Lily got her dream room – enchanted to become whatever she desired. Right now, the room housed a small wood, with a bubbling brook, a campfire where the girls planned to roast marshmallows and under an enchanted starlit sky. Five sleeping bags were arranged around the fire and a small chocolate stream flowed past ending in a portable chocolate fountain. This last item was soon to be introduced by Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.

As soon as the girls were sure they were on their own, they turned to look at each other. Rose pulled her back as straight as a poker and delicately coughed into her fist. This caused a smattering of giggles, mostly from Lily and Molly who insisted that Rose's snooty avatar was a dead ringer for Nana Tonks when she was in a 'Black' mood.

Turning her eyes upon the rest of them, she spoke stuffily, "I hereby call this slumber party to order. First order of business, Dominique Weasley is hereby ordered to disclose all the lurid and dirty details of her impromptu snogging session with Persephone Tyndale's French cousin."

"He's Belgian." Dominique spoke, matter-of-factly, with raised eyebrows, like the quintessential snobby, aristocratic English woman. "And in any case, he wasn't that good of a snog anyway. Kissing him or my hoover would have been practically the same thing, I would imagine. It didn't really convince me too much."

The girls burst into a fit of hushed giggles. Even though they had already cast the "Muffliato" spell, to ensure that nobody could listen into their conversation, it still seemed like they had to ensure it was a secret.

With this, Roxanne's voice was raised above the other's as she proclaimed, fiercely, "Spread the Belgian love!" Holding out a bottle of Butterbeer. "I see someone still isn't over Sweedish Quiddich player extraordinaire, otherwise known as He Who Has a Big Di-"

Dominique gasped, interrupting the petite brunette, as though she were shocked, clasping her hand to her mouth in mock horror.

"Roxanne Weasley, you naughty little minx, where did you get that glorious nectar of the gods?" She inquired dramatically, pointing accusingly at the bottle. "Have you nicked it from the fridge?" She asked in a mock impersonation of Professor McGonagall, "Because, if you have, Miss Weasley, after finding out what everyone got up to tonight, there really won't be any time to get our stories straight about what happened to the Strange Case of the Missing Butterbeer Bottle." She finished with a stern look. Roxanne snickered.

"Relax, keep your knickers on." She said cooly, "I didn't nick it from downstairs. Albus did." Roxanne explained, sending Dom a sly smile.

Dominique narrowed her eyes, suspiciously. Roxanne was up to something. She just knew it and she had just made it her mission to find out exactly what. All the dirty details would be disclosed in a few moments, or her name wasn't Dominique Weasley. "What do you know that we don't?" She asked in a sly manner, that of a person who wasn't very interested, but at the same time, wanted to know all the dirty details.

Roxanne blinked slowly and widened her eyes, faking innocence, pretending not to understand. "Why, I find it preposterous to be accused in such a vile manner! I know nothing!" She stated in the utmost dignified manner, straightening her back to emphasis her position of innocence and indignation.

In the blink of an eye, Dominique had shuffled over to Roxanne. She peered into her face, holding a sugar quill to her throat and threatened mock-seriously, "Spill it."

Roxanne tried to look defiant for a few moments, eventually giving in and collapsing in a fit of giggles. "Oh Merlin, I really shouldn't tell you." She started conspiratorially. This was juicy gossip, too good to waste… "Albus will kill me if he finds out I told everyone." "She continued, taking another sip from the bottle.

Rose pulled a pillow into her lap excitedly, as she formulated an answer that could not be refuted. "Well, he's not here right now, and we won't tell anybody else." Just like her mother, she always used arguments that couldn't be refuted.

Lily nodded, eager to find out exactly what Albus had been up to. It never hurt to have a little blackmail material on her git of a brother.. "That's right. What is said within the confines of this room is sacrosanct. And what he doesn't know can't hurt him, can it?"

Roxanne laughed, defeated. "Alright, well dear Albus has been a very dirty boy." She waggled her eyebrows suggestively and winked at Dom. "I think we should cover Lily's ears."

Lily scowled, furrowing her brows in indignation. "I resent that, as a matter of fact, I am a mature young woman, old enough to hear whatever it is you have to say." She stated in a dignified manner. Lily may have been the last one to blossom into these things, but she was not a child. She thought she had proved that at the ball!

Molly, Percy's daughter, and the most serious girl of the group snorted. "Oh _please_ Dom. I think it's safe to say that you've corrupted Lily well beyond redemption by now. The only difference between the two of you is that she doesn't make it obvious."

Dominique shrugged, running a hand through her hair and flipping it behind her back, as she started in annoyance. "Why does everybody keep assuming I'm the one corrupting her? It could be the other way around." She told the universe at large. "And besides, if I wasn't here to spice up Lily's life, she'd be a dull and boring old vicar."

The girls all giggled at this, before being silenced by Rose's voice, as she reminded them of the most important matter at hand, "Girls, stop dithering about. Roxie! Start talking now." She demanded of the master of all secrets, concerning Albus Potter's dirty escapades.

Roxanne propped her elbow up and nodded vigorously. "Right, so where was I? Albus, right. You know how he's been bouncing between Persephone and Claire all summer right? So apparently," She whispered conspiratorially, "Persephone arrived first and the two of them found a convenient cloak closet at the Ball…" She paused for effect. "Then, ten minutes later, I see Albus, walking around looking as pleased as punch." Here, she paused to take a sip of Butterbeer before continuing her story, "An hour later, dear friends, I see Claire walking in and sidling up to him and, would you believe it ladies?, they disappear and next I see him, his lips are glued to hers down by the fountain on the terrace."

All four girls gasp, their eyes widening. "No!"

Roxanne nodded smugly, as she took another sip of her butterbeer. "Yes."

Lily shook her head, still struggling to accept the dirty endeavours and extracurricular activities of her brother. "Wow. Who knew Albus was so fickle?" She let out, more to herself than anyone.

Dominique laughed. "Actually Lily, you might be the only one who's clueless about dear Albus's exploits. He _is_ a bit of a man-whore."

Roxanne shrugged. "Well, he saw me and started begging me to keep quiet about it."

Molly smirked. "Sold your soul for Butterbeer eh?"

Roxanne stretched lazily. "I can't think of anything better."

"I can." Dominique said smugly. Grinning widely from ear to ear, she elaborated, "See it starts with an 'S; and ends with a _"

Molly snorted. "You're one to talk about being a whore."

"_ends with an 'S' is all I was going to say." Dominique finished, looking mock hurt towards Molly.

Lily grabbed the butterbeer from Roxanne and took a sip. "Starts with an 'S' and ends with an 'S'. What are you talking about?" She looked at Dominique who lay on her side, genuinely intrigued.

Dominique smirked. " Why, Scorpius of course!" She giggled, wiggling her eyebrows at Lily. "I'm surprised you didn't really think of it first, considering how much you were eyeing each other all night…"

Rose gasped in mock shock, "You couldn't make a better pun than that!" She picked up her pillow and brought it down hard on Dominique's head.

"What? What are you hitting me for? I didn't say anything. I meant it, plain and simple. You're the one who started with the dirty symbolism." Dominique protested, shoving her own pillow back at Rose. "And besides, I'm not the one who should be getting the inquisition for this juicy piece of gossip, Lily is! She's the one eyeing him all night, even though she has a boyfriend!" She finished, successfully diverting the attention from herself.

Lily watched in mortification as her cousins turned to look at her as one.

Rose smiled evilly. "How very interesting, Dom. So, Lily, care to explain what Dominique is talking about?" Her voice had the cloying consistency of thick sugar syrup.

Lily gulped. She knew that if she wasn't careful, Rose would trap her and the entire story would come tumbling out, and while she loved her cousins dearly, she knew that sooner or later, this information would somehow reach Albus, and then she'd have hell to pay. So she took a deep breath and shrugged carelessly, "I don't know what she's talking about."

She braced herself as all the girls began talking at once.

Roxanne smiled widely. "You little sneak! You were holding out on us, were you?" Her eyes glittered with amusement. She couldn't help grin at the rosy blush that spread across Lily's features. She knew that it was all nonsense. Dominique was a past master in deflecting attention from her escapades, and it seemed this time, poor Lily had become her latest scapegoat. Well, as long as it was fun, she didn't mind teasing Lily about it in the slightest.

Dominique ran her fingers through her silky hair and murmured, "Well I don't really blame her. Scorpius is so yummy he should be illegal. She probably couldn't resist ogling him all night long."

Lily snapped her head back. "What? Excuse me. Dom, you're being ridiculous, I haven't spoken one word to the bloke." She frowned. "Besides, how did we go from talking about Dom's snog-fest to ribbing me?"

Rose waved a hand flippantly in the air. "Oh pffft. Dom's always going to have a good snog story to tell, but you sweetheart, it's so very rare for you to put one perfect little toe out of line. It's almost too good to be true!" Rose giggled in breathless delight. Lily grimaced, almost wishing that the muffling spell Roxanne had cast earlier would disintegrate and her mother would hear the commotion and come save her from her cousins, who were starting to swiftly resemble sharks, eager to rip her open and watch her emotions spill out on the floor. She resigned herself to being mercilessly teased for the rest of the night.

Molly shook her head and frowned in exasperation. Not Scorpius Malfoy _again_. "I honestly don't get the colossal fuss over Scorpius Malfoy. He's nothing but a stuck-up, arrogant troublemaker. I swear, I get enough gushing over him in my dorm. I really don't want to have to sit through it here too." She ended with a slight whining tone to her voice. Honestly, what was wrong with everybody? There were enough good looking blokes without an attitude problem that they could be talking about but no, it was always Scorpius-is-so-hot-he-looked-at-me-in-the-Great-Hall and-I-thought-I-was-going-to-die. Tsk. Barking mad, the lot of them.

Dominique smiled slyly. "Hey Molly, if you don't watch it, your face is going to freeze like that." She laughed softly as Molly struggled to wipe the scowl off her face. "Besides, I think you need to get your eyes checked. Have you seen him? He's positively delicious."

Lily crossed her arms across her chest and pouted. "Why am I being dragged into this anyway? I don't know him and he probably doesn't even know I exist_"

"And yet, there he was, staring at you like he wanted you for dessert _" Dominique cut in quickly, somehow controlling her laughter as Lily's face turned a deeper shade of crimson with embarrassment.

Lily frowned. "He was not staring at me-he was not!"

Dom glanced at Roxanne. The tan girl nodded imperceptively, letting Dom know it was alright to up the ante a little. They were in this together after all. Dom winked at her before turning her cerulean eyes towards Lily. "How do you know?"

Lily bristled and stuck her lower lip out obstinately. "Because he was busy talking to his friend, he wasn't even looking at me!"

"Awww that's what's got your knickers in a twist!" Roxanne roared with laughter. Dominique and Rose followed suit even as Molly scowled some more. Roxanne shook her head. Putting on a grave face, she affected a snobbish pose and spoke, "Oh my dear that really won't do. We really must do something about that. How dare he speak to his friend when Lily here was dying for him to look at her."

Rose quipped. "To talk to her."

"Dance with her." Roxanne closed her eyes as though in bliss.

Dom snorted. "Snog her till she can't feel her lips."

Lily stood and picked up a pillow. Striding over to where her three tormentors sat huddled together, she brought the pillow down on their heads with great relish. "No! No! And no!"

Rose fell back upon the cushions, laughing hard at Lily's predicament. "Methinks the lady doth protest too much!"

"Waitaminute, wasn't Scorpius the guy you snogged in fifth year to make Damien jealous?" Molly asked, bringing the laughter to a close. Rose sat up and furrowed her eyebrows together as she shook her head.

"No, that was his best friend, Blake." Molly looked blank. Rose continued, "Blake Zabini? Tall, dark, dangerously handsome? Ring a bell?"

Dominique smiled lazily. "Oh yes." Her lips curled into an almost seductive smile as she remembered.

Roxanne stared at her. "You too?"

Dominique giggled. Roxanne snorted. "When did that happen?"

Dominique sat up straight. "Marvin Peck's Christmas party in Fifth Year. We were sitting in the garden, just talking….about something I don't remember, and then I don't know why or how but we ended up snogging for a really long time. Merlin, that boy made my toes curl."

Molly stared at Rose and Dominique. "So you were both snogging the same boy in fifth year?"

Rose shrugged. "Not like we were doing it at the same time. It just happened."

Lily shook her head. "I can't believe you kept that from us."

Rose rubbed her cheek self-consciously. "It was nothing serious. Damien was just being so pigheaded about us. I had to do something."

Lily nodded her head slowly, avidly drinking in whatever Rose was saying. "And it worked?"

Rose grinned. "You bet it did. Damien realized what a humongous idiot he would be if he let me get away like that. We got back together barely three days after Blake and I snogged." She sighed. "Sometimes, I love how fast Hogwarts gossip works."

Roxanne tilted her head and locked her eyes on Lily. "I hate to break the nostalgia but I still want to know the deal with you and Scorpius."

Lily groaned. "Not again. I told you already. There's nothing!" Noticing the doubtful look on Roxanne's face, Lily laughed and grabbed the Butterbeer bottle from her. Taking a tiny sip, she nodded, "Granted, he is very good looking but I'm just not interested. Lucas makes me lose my breath each time I look at him and he treats me like a princess." And that's what really mattered. Lucas adored her. When she was with him, it felt like she was the sun around which his world revolved. He treated her as something incredibly precious and she loved it. She couldn't deny that a small part of her was naturally intrigued by the danger and thrill that simply oozed from Scorpius. He was unlike anyone she'd ever met. His eyes, his smirk, the ready challenge on his face, the daring recklessness that was apparent in his demeanour; what girl wouldn't be drawn to it? But Lucas's unwavering affection was not something she would come across everyday.

She settled down comfortably against a stack of pillows and looked at Dominique. "And now Ms. Wandering Lips, start talking about your Belgian bloke."

"He's not my bloke_" But the rest of her words were drowned out by Rose and Roxanne's proclamations that she hadn't stirred from his side the entire evening and that she was obviously lying about his kissing ability.

Lily smirked as Dom was now pelted with questions from both Rose and Roxanne, neither of whom allowed her even a moment of respite from interrogation. They would have continued like this had Molly not pointed out, quite logically, that tomorrow was their last chance to visit Diagon Alley and get whatever supplies they'd missed the first time around, and if Rose wanted to go make moony eyes at Damien, they'd all better sleep now or Lily the proverbial late-riser would make them all late. Grudgingly admitting that she was right, one by one, all the girls settled into their sleeping bags and slowly drifted off to sleep.

**X**

Twelve hours later, Lily stood outside Flourish and Blotts, trying to catch her breath from all the running around Dominique had already made her endure. Rose and Molly refused to budge from the bookstore. They had found the mystical pile of original books that the owner would pull out of storage once a year. Nobody really knew how old these books were, but Aunt Hermione said that she had once found a book dating back to the 11th century in it. Long story short, the bookstore was now packed to the cinders and both Rose and Molly refused to move an inch from their vantage point. Dominique declared that she could feel the dust from the ancient tomes settle on her skin and so, she and Dom had stepped out for fresh air. And just to punish her for making everybody late that morning, Dominique rushed off to a snazzy new boutique just across the street and left all their bags hanging at her fingers.

Lily sighed and once more tried to adjust all the shopping bags so she didn't lose her fingers. She rolled her eyes at the thought of her cousins, who had so conveniently forgotten that she wasn't allowed to do any magic outside school. Would it have killed them to cast a feather-light charm on the bags? Her fingers were red and sore from switching the bags from left to right. She groaned inwardly. Let it never be said that Lily Luna Potter did not suffer at the hands of her family!

"Oh honestly Dom." She muttered under her breath. Bending her head, she tucked the straps of a few bags higher on her wrists, giving her sore fingers some relief. She didn't think much of the shadow that fell across her when the door to the shop next door opened and someone stepped out.

The high pitched giggling alerted her to the saccharine sweet voice that followed. "Sweet Merlin, Lily, is that you?"

Lily glanced up and groaned inwardly as her eyes fell upon the blue-eyed blonde-haired doll-like visage of Cassandra Milford-Cottam. This was really not her day. "Cassandra." She nodded curtly and hoped that the girl would just move on and leave her be.

Cassandra smirked. "Are you Dominique's packhorse for the day? I think it's an improvement." She flipped her golden curls over her shoulder in an elegant move and shifted her hips to one side.

Lily made no response. She turned back towards the bookstore and peered through the polished glass windows, wondering what was taking Rose and Molly so long. Cassandra crossed over and stood before the window, blocking her view. Lily frowned. Cassandra plastered an innocent look on her face and smiled back at her.

"I didn't see you at the Ball last night." She sneered. "What's the matter? Daddy too scared to let you loose on the world?" Cassandra was one of the many reasons why Lily didn't venture beyond her circle of family to look for friends. Girls like Cassandra took one look at her and decided that she was a stuck up princess who needed to be brought down a notch. They didn't care to get to know her or they'd realise that the image of 'Princess Potter' that she carried around was so far from the truth that it was ridiculous. She'd always been the baby of the family, protected and sheltered by her parents, her aunts and uncles and the older brothers and sisters who came to Hogwarts before her. It didn't make her a spoilt brat. But who really cared about that?

She was Harry Potter's daughter – people had been judging her since the moment she'd sat down to be sorted. She could remember it as though it were yesterday.

The moment her name was announced, people started whispering and nudging each other. She bit her lip and looked towards her brothers already seated at the Gryffindor table. James smiled at her and Albus gave her a thumbs up. The Hat told her that she wasn't sly enough to survive in Slytherin. Yes, Slytherin. The house she'd _wanted_ to be in, for no other reason than the fact that it would be kind of cool. Victoire had been in Slytherin, and to her eleven-year-old self, Victoire had epitomised 'cool'. But no, she wasn't cunning enough for that. She wouldn't fit into Ravenclaw either; because most of her grasp of magic, like her father and her mother, was instinctive. That left Hufflepuff and Gryffindor – well, who was she to ruin family tradition – she was sorted into Gryffindor, and before she even reached the table to be engulfed in a bear hug from James, she'd been christened 'Princess Potter' by the pretty little girl with baby blue eyes and golden curls who'd been sorted into Ravenclaw before her.

Cassandra had decided that Lily was her rival from that day forward. There wasn't a single class that she shared with the Ravenclaws that could end in peace. She was forever sneering, teasing and taunting her. So much so that she began to dread classes with Ravenclaw. The worst part though was that nobody took her seriously when she complained about it, so she learned to stop complaining and start ignoring Cassandra. That had worked well until the start of Fourth year when she'd started dating Lucas. Lily ignored the tiny twinge of guilt she felt. She had known that Cassandra fancied him but she'd still gone ahead and agreed to date him. Why shouldn't she date him, anyway? He was smart (Ravenclaw, duh!), funny, and nice. He was unpretentious and quite frankly, the only guy who'd had the courage to come up and ask her out while she sat at a table surrounded by her brother and cousins. She'd been impressed; of course she'd go out with him, who wouldn't?

It was only later that she told Dom that her reason for dating Lucas might, in a very slight way, be influenced by the fact that it would drive Cassie insane. Dom had laughed. "As long as you know what you're getting into."

Lily tilted her head slightly and tried not to scowl. "What's that supposed to mean? Anyway, I was at the Ball but I didn't see you anywhere."

Cassandra smiled. Her eyes glinted maliciously as she ran her fingers through her perfect curls. "My, my, you must be so thrilled! Little Lily finally allowed to go play with the grown ups." Cassandra cooed in a sing-song voice.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Do you have any idea how ridiculous you sound?"

Cassandra scoffed. "Not as ridiculous as you." She placed her hand on her chest dramatically and spoke in a breathy voice, "'Please Lucas, not now, I'm not ready.'" Lily paled as the blood rushed from her face. She stared at Cassandra, aghast. Noticing her anguish, the blonde girl dove in for the kill. Smirking, she tossed her hair again, "Poor Lucas, he had no idea he'd be stuck with such a prude."

"How do you know about that?" Lily whispered.

Cassandra laughed. "What, did you think you were the only one who knows a couple of secret passages?" She stepped closer to Lily. "It won't last, just wait and see."

Lily clenched her fists. "Lucas cares about me. He'd never hurt me, especially not for you!"

Cassandra threw her head back and laughed. "Sweet Merlin! Don't get me wrong princess, but I'm not interested in Lucas anymore. You can keep your little prince. I've found myself a real man." Lifting an eyebrow suggestively, she backed off and stepped around Lily.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Lily watched her walk away, her short skirt moving with every sway of her hips. She felt her mind swirl about in turmoil. Cassandra had always managed to unsettle her. She made her feel small, worthless and insignificant. Lily felt her hands shaking with silent, impotent rage. She took a deep breath and forced her anger down. It wasn't worth it getting angry over anything Cassie did. It just wasn't worth it.

Her heart stopped as a familiar sound drew near. She whipped her head around to catch it cruising down the street. Her eyes grew wide as a black motorcycle stopped at the curb. The rider swung his leg over the gleaming machine effortlessly and swept his helmet off. Her breath choked as she recognised the silvery blonde hair, the cold grey eyes and the lean, muscular frame of Scorpius Malfoy. She didn't notice the lithe figure of Cassandra step up close to him; she was too busy admiring the way the sunlight glimmered softly on his hair, his face and the glinting metal of the motorcycle behind him. A moment later, he pulled Cassandra flush against his body and crushed her mouth with his. Lily distinctly felt her breath catch in her throat and shudder back into her lungs. She stepped back, towards the darkened alcove of the bookstore. The two persons she stared at didn't notice her at all. Scorpius slid his hand down Cassie's back slowly. There was enough heat in the kiss to burn Lily, who was standing metres away.

Her mouth felt dry and she swallowed thickly, unable to tear her eyes away from them. Scorpius ran his fingers over Cassie's delicate jaw and gripped the base of her skull with his fingers. Expertly tilting her head up, he moved even closer before finally letting her up for air. Cassandra blinked as though dazed. He smirked and whispered something in her ear that made her blush for an instant. Lily felt sick. Cassandra and _him_?

She was still watching them when Dominique returned.

"You're not going to believe the things I found. That shop is – whoa!" Dominique stopped at the sight of Cassandra smiling so wide that the edges of her smile seemed to touch her ears. She raised an eyebrow as Scorpius smoothly removed her hands from his body and stepped back. He turned to look along the street and waved at someone. Dominique discreetly cast a glance at Lily and felt her eyebrows shoot up at her cousin's deadened expression. Lily looked down suddenly and found something very interesting in the straps of the shopping bags she held.

Dominique opened her mouth to say something when the door to the bookstore opened. Rose and Molly bustled out, arms overflowing with books. Rose quickly shrunk the two piles of books . She handed Molly's over and snuck the books she'd bought for herself into her pockets. Molly smiled at her gratefully before rubbing her wrists gingerly. Roxanne raced up and began to herd them towards Quality Quidditch Supplies. There was a flurry of conversation as Roxanne's demands to go try out the indoor pitch _right now_ were shot down by Albus and Hugo who claimed that they were starving and would die if forced to go without food for even a minute longer.

Roxanne persisted, Molly suggested taking a vote. Dominique complained about everyone being too noisy and Rose nervously looked at her wristwatch and shaking her head, told them to go ahead without her; she was late to meet Damien. Lily smiled softly as Rose enveloped her in a bear hug before rushing off to meet her boyfriend. None of them noticed the couple standing at the curb watching the frenzied exchange in amusement. Roxanne ultimately won the argument and the cousins began to move towards Quality Quidditch Supplies. Lily kept her head down as they walked past Cassie who draped herself over Scorpius's arm as though she were a blanket.

Lily kept her eyes steadily trained upon the cobbled stones of the street. She didn't know why but she didn't want to see Cassandra standing so close to the ….motorcycle. Yes, the motorcycle. The motorcycle that was the symbol of her cherished and precious first love, Sirius Black. She couldn't see Cassie destroying that. So she continued to walk on as though she hadn't noticed anything.

If only things could be that simple.

"Whoa! That your bike, mate?" She heard Albus's voice exclaim in excitement. Lily froze. Around her, Dominique and Roxanne also stopped, watching the interaction between the two boys curiously. Molly began to whine about being late for lunch but when she noticed that nobody was paying her any attention, she simply rolled her eyes and kept walking. Lily hesitated a moment before following her pragmatic cousin.

Scorpius glanced up at Albus, a little surprised by the open admiration in the boy's voice. "Yeah, she is."

Albus stepped closer. "She's gorgeous mate." He suddenly turned and called out, loud enough for all of London and adjoining counties to hear, "Lily! Hey Lils! Get over here!"

Lily cringed as Albus's booming voice rang through the street. Scorpius looked amused. Cassie looked horrified. Dominique and Roxanne exchanged a meaningful glance and settled back to watch the unfolding scene with great interest.

Lily turned slowly and dragged her feet to where her brother stood next to the shining black motorcycle. He bumped her shoulder with his, "Isn't it awesome, Lily?"

Lily nodded noncommittally. "Very." She avoided looking up at Cassie's smirking face. Albus didn't seem to notice her consternation. He went on talking about the bike, how long Scorpius had had it, how fast he'd gone on it? Could it fly? If he'd ever been in trouble with the Muggle police for it? Had Scorpius tried to make it run on magic instead of fuel?

Lily resisted the urge to roll her eyes and groan in annoyance. Of all the days Albus chose to be a chatty little beaver, it had to be today. Her already bad mood plummeted further as she noticed Cassie's entourage cross the street to join them. Great, just great. This was just what she needed to turn a perfectly beautiful day into a nightmare. Cassie and her giggling bunch of girlfriends. Lily caught Roxanne's eye and made a face as Sophia Emeritt and Vivian Forsyth squealed and jumped as they hugged each other and Cassie. Apparently the Three Bitches hadn't met over the summer and were so excited at finally seeing each other.

Roxanne grinned widely, finding the scene too ridiculous to be annoyed. Lily quelled an urge to hit her placid cousin over the head. Would it kill Roxanne to show solidarity by acting annoyed for _once_ in her life?

Lily grew increasingly uncomfortable as the conversation stretched to include what they had done during the summer. Scorpius had gone to France with his parents, Albus mentioned the Potters' trip to Majorca before joining James in Prague where he was playing till the end of the season. Someway in between, Albus realized that Lily still stood next to him, "Oh right. You haven't met my sister, have you?" He grasped her elbow gently and pulled her forward. "Scorpius Malfoy, my sister Lily Potter." Sophia coughed exaggeratedly. Vivian snickered even as Cassie hung on Scorpius's arm and sneered at her.

Scorpius arched one elegant eyebrow and was about to reply when Lily raised her eyes to his and shook her head very slightly. He narrowed his eyes and stared back at her. Lily bit her lip and silently sent him a plea not to reveal the fact that he'd met her last night, that he'd seen her outside the ballroom. He remained silent. Lily glanced at Albus and nodded slowly. "Nice to meet you." She said softly.

Scorpius didn't reply. He kept staring at her with an unreadable expression in his eyes. Cassie sidled up to him and smiled widely. "Oh, what a surprise running into you here Albus."

Albus' smiled dimmed a bit. He wasn't oblivious to Cassie's antagonism against Lily and while he believed in letting his little sister fight her own battles; there were some things a brother just didn't ignore. He nodded curtly and after shaking hands with Scorpius, began to walk away. Dom stepped up in his place and linked her arm through Lily's. Cassie narrowed her eyes at them both and smiled cattily. "Oh hey Dominique. Didn't see you there. Hi Roxanne," she added as the tan girl moved into view. Her eyes glittered patronizingly as she stared at Lily, "Virgin Mary, how was your summer?"

Sophia and Vivian burst into peals of laughter. Scorpius quirked an eyebrow up. A flash of irritation crossed his face but only for a moment. Lily didn't bother answering; she simply stepped back and walked away, uninterested in whatever caustic reply Dom was sure to make.

Dominique glared at Cassandra icily. She opened her mouth to reply but Roxie beat her to it. Smiling widely, the brown eyed girl tilted her head and replied, "It was great! Me and Lily enrolled for a student volunteer program at St. Mungo's and imagine our surprise to see the count for syphilis go down by 20 percent, but _then_, I remembered, Cassie's not in England." Turning her brilliant smile on Scorpius, she went on, "I'd be careful if I were you Malfoy, this one's a maneater." Cassie went red with rage but Roxanne ignored her. She tugged on Dominque's arm, successfully drawing the angry Veela away from the other girl.

Merely a few steps away from them, Dominique tugged her hand away from Roxanne and hissed angrily at her, "Why the bloody hell did you stop me Roxie? I was about to give that tart tentacles!" Not many people could stare Dominique down when she was upset but Roxanne hadn't been sorted into Gryffindor for no reason.

She simply rolled her eyes. "She's not worth your time Dom. And you know it." Roxanne glanced up at Dominique who stood a good three inches taller than her and sighed. "Listen Dom, use your brain. Cassie thrives on drama. She loves to create a scene. If you'd hexed her right now, she'd have a field day spreading rubbish about you and Lily at school."

Dominique scoffed. "And what's stopping her from spreading rubbish anyway?" Dominique had never understood Roxie's burning need to analyse and dissect everything so minutely. All she knew was that when somebody insulted her family, she would hex them until they practically grovelled for forgiveness.

Roxanne shrugged. "The fact that we embarrassed her in front of the guy she's interested in should stop her from doing anything stupid, for at least a week into term."

Dominique narrowed her eyes calculatingly. "And if it doesn't?"

"Then we bring out the big guns." Roxie pushed Dominique forward. "Now, come on Angry Lady. Let's fly!"

Dominique reluctantly allowed herself to be pulled inside the cool environs of Quality Quidditch Supplies. As they changed into the provided practice Quidditch robes, she leaned towards Roxanne and asked, "Hey Roxie, what does 'bring out the big guns' even mean?"

Roxanne shrugged. "Dunno. I heard it on the telly box at Aunt Hermione's once. Sounded kinda cool."

Dominique rolled her eyes. "Oh honestly Roxie."

X

**Author's Note**

Please comment


	3. Blokes, Bars and Bad Behaviour

**Summary:** Lily Luna Potter didn't care much for bad boys. So what if Scorpius Malfoy had the charm of the devil, the looks of a god and a motorcycle that would make Sirius Black proud? Lily X Scorpius

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all its characters are the creative property of JK Rowling, who seriously needs to come back to writing about wizards.

Wow, so many nice comments. Thank you everyone. I'm glad you're enjoying the story. A few things I wanted to make clear:

1) This is not going to be one of those stories where the hero and heroine get together almost immediately. Because romance needs build up. Because I don't really hold with 'love at first sight'. 'Interested at first sight' yes, that makes sense. 'Lust at first sight' also makes sense but Love requires time, understanding and acceptance.

2) There is a valid reason why Lily is watched over so carefully by her family. The reason will surface within a few chapters.

Great. Now we can move on with the story.

* * *

**Black Velvet**

**Chapter 3: Blokes, Bars, and Bad Behaviour**

Eventually, it would be the giggling that did him in.

Scorpius prided himself upon being the first Malfoy male, _correction_, first Malfoy Heir in centuries to care nothing for the stoic, frozen-in-place and oh-so-amused mask, that came free with the silvery blonde hair and the devastating good looks of Malfoy wizards. He was happier to display the traits that had been hardwired into him, through years of watching how the usually tightly, reined in, Malfoy temper exploded with all the beauty and horror of a tempest, in the privacy of Malfoy Manor; for nobody who had ever seen Lucius Malfoy lose his temper, within the warded privacy of his home, would ever _consider_ the wizard elegant and restrained again. Malfoys were _not_ restrained, Scorpius believed; instead, he thought they were beasts: beautiful, terrifying beasts, who lived their lives confined inside a gilded cage. Outside of that cage, they displayed the behaviour expected of aristocratic pure-blood wizards, born into a life of wealth and power. You have only to step inside the cage, however, to see how easy it is for them to pounce upon you and rip you to shreds.

It was the _giggling_ that he couldn't stand. Why did birds giggle all the time? Or was it just Cassie? He considered this carefully and accepted that it could be unusually peculiar for Cassie to have a giggle so high-pitched and annoying, that he was seriously tempted to dip into the vast reserve of "secret" spells, which Grandfather had him memorise before his Fifth Year, and hex the girl. He sighed in annoyance. Yes, he could probably do that, but it would be such a waste. He stepped away from the girls and casually adjusted one of the side-mirrors on his bike. The minute adjustment caught the reflection of another girl, who'd been standing there just a minute ago. A girl with red hair, brilliant emerald eyes, blush-stained cheeks and lush, plum lips that were just begging to be kissed. He dragged his teeth over his lower lip slowly as he watched the reflection flit away from the mirror and quelled the urge to move the mirror to the left a little more, just to see her again.

For the second time now, in two days, Scorpius found himself thinking of a girl he knew nothing about. Narrowing his eyes thoughtfully, he replayed the conversation between Cassie and the Weasley cousins. Well, he knew some things now, courtesy Cassie. _Number One_, Lily Luna Potter would rather walk away than get drawn into a confrontation. _Number Two_, despite the fact that she was incredibly beautiful, she was still inexperienced. Well, he chuckled to himself, he probably had that idiot boyfriend of hers to thank for that. _Number Three_, she had deliberately omitted the fact that she'd already met him in front of her brother. _Interesting_. His sense of curiosity was piqued and he couldn't help but wonder why she'd gone to the trouble of masking the delight he'd seen so clearly at the night of the Ball. And why should she choose to ignore and play down a caustic barb when she could have easily countered it?

Lost in his thoughts, Scorpius didn't realize that his friends had arrived until his inky shadow was joined by two others. He glanced up to find his two best friends going through the motions of nodding their heads and smiling vacantly at the three girls standing beside him.

He smirked at the sight of Blake and Astrid affecting looks of interest as they exchanged pleasantries with Cassie and her friends. "What took you so long?"

The two newcomers turned towards him. The girl immediately scowled. Her ebony black hair was tied back in a ponytail, high cheekbones attested to generations of pure breeding and dark brown eyes which simmered with barely-concealed irritation. Astrid Nott had inherited her father's sarcastic wit but not his placid nature; her looks and personality favoured that of her mother, a tempestuous, temperamental Florentine witch, whose family was of the same blood and stock as the Borgias. Astrid's unpredictability often brought her into conflict with other members of their House. She was not known to mince words in favour of striking at the opportune moment. It was a very 'Gryffindor' trait of hers that often put her, and by extension, Scorpius and Blake, at odds with the rest of Slytherin House.

Astrid jerked her head towards the boy standing next to her, stating sarcastically, "Princess Zabini here, just _had_ to get five new sets of robes." She held her hand up and rolled her eyes mockingly.

Blake smiled in his usual laidback manner. "My regular ones are fading," he said by way of explanation. Scorpius nodded his head carefully, acting as though it was perfectly natural, knowing that his complacence about it would drive Astrid crazy.

Astrid gaped at him. "Are you kidding me? Don't tell me you agree with this fop! How many sets of robes does a bloke need for a term? I know you don't need five more, apart from the three you got last time we were here. I'm serious, every time he opens his trunk, he needs a new Shrinking Charm for his clothes." She looked from one boy to the other; completely oblivious to how Cassie and friends were reacting to her dramatic hand gesturing and voice inflection. "You know what," she held a hand up. "I don't care. Really, go on and buy the whole bloody store for all I care, just don't make me late while we're at it."

Blake grinned. "I'd never get you late in such a cheap place. You deserve a proper room at least."

Astrid scowled at him. "Shut it." Crossing over to Scorpius, she pulled him into a bear hug. "Come here, you." As she pulled away, she smirked at Cassie's discomfort. "Don't look so upset, kid."

Cassie recovered quickly and plastered a smile on her face. She, turned turning to Scorpius. , "Well, I better go. ; It's it's getting late." She stood on the her tips of her toes and kissed him soundly on the lips. Blake exchanged a glance with Astrid and smiled as she rolled her eyes. The three Slytherins waited until she turned the corner and was out of sight before turning to each other.

Astrid swooped in at once. "Cassandra Milford-Cottam? Really, Scorpius? You couldn't do any better than the resident fifth year tart?" She waved her hands around for emphasis. Blake laughed at the look of outrage plastered on her face, before pulling her forward by the elbow. , as tThe three friends made their way to the Leaky Cauldron.

Once inside, they settled into a cosy booth at the back, Blake and Astrid sat side by side and Scorpius sat opposite them. Blake gestured for the waitress, as Astrid continued to enumerate everything that was wrong with dating the 'resident fifth year tart' while Scorpius tried to look like he was listeningpaying attention.

Scorpius rolled his head forward, pressing his fingers into the tense muscles at the base of his neck. Astrid took a sip of her Butterbeer before speaking again, "I don't know how you stand that girl, let alone _date_ her. With every word she says, I feel like strangling her. Have you no standards?"

Blake laughed. , "Well, in Scorpius's defence, I don't think she's doing much talking anyway.…"

Astrid glared at him. "Thank you Princess. How did I ever survive the summer without your daily dose smartass input of crassness? And you," She looked at Scorpius, "_What were are you thinking_?" She shuddered.

Scorpius smirked. , deciding on the most annoying answer he could give "Well there's this thing she does with her tongue.…" Scorpius watched her carefully, waiting for her typical melodramatic reaction. Astrid never felt like she was getting her point across, unless she was gesticulating like a crazy personmadwoman or whipping through the air with her hands and arms as she spoke.

Astrid sputtered with indignation and disgust. "I meant something _meaningful_." She rolled her eyes. "I don't know why I waste my time with you two!" she glared at no point in particular in front of her.

Blake snorted at her vehemence. "Because we're the _only_ two people who will listen to you ramble on about Potter."

Astrid stared back at him frostilyshot him a frosty look. "You will refer to my future husband with respect, or you will not refer to him at all." Blake raised an eyebrow in amusement and glanced at Scorpius, slowly shaking his head in mock-sadness.

"You see what I've been dealing with since morning?" Scorpius merely shook his head. He looked glanced around the pub carefully, before returning his attention back to his friends, who were now bickering good-naturedly between themselves. He smiled. It was a relief to be with these two. Both Blake and Astrid knew what it was to stand on the wrong side of the accepted social divide. Wizarding Britain had been in the throes of change since the end of the Second Wizarding War. Voldemort's Fall meant that people such as himself, Blake and Astrid who would have had any door opened to them solely on the force of the purity of their blood and the names they were born with, now had to deal with being hated and scorned for those very things. Circumstances that were beyond their control now combined to push them and others like them into a corner.

He had been only a child when he'd realized that something about him was different. Something set him apart, something that no amount of introspection and self-realization would do away with. He was the heir to what was possibly the oldest pure bloodline left in Wizarding England. But the fact gave him no sense of pride, because in this age and time, it was the wrong bloodline to have. Who could have foreseen that the lack of variety in the blood of his ancestors would label him a pureblood supremacist? That people would view his every word, every and action with suspicion or expectation, depending on which House they were in, depending upon what sort of family they belonged to.…

He'd been in Third Year when a group of Seventh Years from his House had assembled in his dorm room, pushed the rest of the boys out with the exception of Blake and proceeded to tell him that he had a responsibility to 'lead' Slytherin, to show the way to counter the 'threat' posed by Mudbloods and Blood Traitors, that it was his solemn duty as the last remaining descendent (however distant) of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black and the heir of the Noble House of Malfoy to see to it that the glory of Slytherin was once again restored and that the sacrilege committed by certain misguided members of the magical world reined in.

What had happened could not be changed, they spoke in solemn words, but it was up to them to prevent the further deterioration of the magical heritage that set them apart from common Muggles. They were wizards! And as such they had a duty to their community. Even though other people may not realize but what they sought to do was a noble and grave task, a task that had to be completed, otherwise Wizarding culture and ancient Wizarding heritage would be lost forever. They were not pureblood supremacists. But they did seek to honour and preserve the rules and constraints of their world which were steadily being eroded by the flood of Muggleborns and Halfbloods in 'our' world.

He'd been jolted to the bone. This wasn't- _couldn't_ be happening. This problem had already been tackled. This wasn't his mess to clean up. It wasn't his fight. They'd already fought two wars over this, weren't they satisfied yet? He wanted nothing to do with it. 'Get out' he'd said.

'We know you will need time.'

'_Get out'._

'Take all the time you need, but this honour falls to you.'

'Who do think I am?'

Scorpius Malfoy.

"Scorpius? Scorpius!" Blake hollered. Scorpius sat straight with a jolt to find Astrid hovering over him and Blake leaning forward over the table. His hand grasped his shoulder, his dark eyes were concerned. Scorpius let loose a shaky breath and shook his head. He glanced up at Astrid and offered her a small smile, gesturing her to sit. Astrid sat down slowly, her eyes still wide with concern and alarm. It wasn't like him to space out of a conversation like that.

"What happened?" She asked, her voice a mere whisper. He almost didn't hear her over the din of the pub but he watched her lips move and closed his eyes momentarily. Shaking his head, he looked across the pub, not seeing the smoky, crowded room but something else. A similar conversation with his grandfather in the summer after his Fifth Year when his world once more came crashing down around him.

"Nothing", he replied. His grandfather's study, lined with books, rich leather, the bottle of bourbon in the last drawer, the family tree printed on 14th century parchment with a blood quill, locked in a secret compartment. The words had been different but the gist had been the same. He'd felt sick, scared, and then enraged.

"But, you looked like you were someplace else entirely….what's going on?" Astrid persisted. She didn't like the tightness around his eyes, or the frown that sat on his brow.

"Just thinking." He replied shortly. He would have stood up and left but these two were the only people who would even begin to understand. They had it just as bad. He couldn't pretend that he was the only one who faced it. He wasn't that self-centred.

Blake nodded. "About what?" It was like pulling out teeth. Scorpius would make them work for every little word spoken in confidence. But that's what friends did.

Scorpius stared out towards the bar where two men in faded Auror robes sat side by side, drinking. One of them suddenly turned and looked him in the eyes, his expression fierce and demanding. Scorpius held his gaze for a few moments before losing interest and turning back to his friends. He smiled at Astrid.

"About how pissed you'd be if you knew what you missed because you were late." That's it, quietly and subtly, or not so subtly judging from Blake's expression, bring the talking back to the here and now, to the mundane, the everyday, the safe realm of meaningless small talk to fill the hours until its time to go back to the houses they were raised in and the houses that still scare them - The sprawling family seats in the country, the elegant, tastefully decorated magically enlarged townhouses in the city, the libraries inside where at least a dozen books have attempted to kill them or enslave their minds, the kitchens where house elves are honoured for a lifetime of service with a plaque and a stump for the head. The formal gatherings where they'd been paraded like cattle and cordoned off in stuffy day rooms so that the grandparents could fix futures with each other even as our parents stood by and muttered spells to confound the lunar charts and star maps used to make matches. The daily existence they hoped to leave behind desperately.

Astrid blinked. "What did I miss?" Her voice muffled as she attempted to talk around a cream puff. Blake rolled his eyes as Scorpius started to chuckle.

"Albus Potter," He stopped, savouring the moment as she gawked at him before quickly washing the cream puff down with a large gulp of Butterbeer. She nodded at him encouragingly, making him laugh.

Astrid sputtered in indignation, "Don't just stop there! Finish what you were going to say. Was he here? Did you speak to him? What did he say?" Both Blake and Scorpius dropped all pretence of holding back and began to laugh uproariously. Astrid's infatuation for the Head Boy was legendary; something that survived from Third Year and lingered despite the numerous boyfriends she'd had. The boys had figured out that Astrid had a thing for the dark-haired Gryffindor early in their Third Year, when Astrid angrily hexed a Fifth Year Slytherin for tripping Potter in the Charms corridor.

"Stop laughing, you insufferable gits! What's so funny?" Astrid huffed and sat back in the booth with her arms crossed over her chest. She shrugged carelessly. "Alright fine, don't tell me. I don't care anyway." Having said so, she ignored both her male companions and amused herself with looking around the pub, stopping only to glare at them from time to time.

"In other news, Dad decided to give me the 'future' talk." Blake said in what he hoped was a very nonchalant way. Scorpius raised his eyebrows while Astrid dropped her frown-pout and turned to look at him. Blake looked composed, which was always a good sign. That meant, whatever it was couldn't be very bad.

"And?" She asked quietly. "What did he say?"

Blake shrugged. "He pretty much gave me a free pass - any job at the Ministry except for Law Enforcement and the Unspeakables, or I can go into the family business. Pretty good." His shoulders were relaxed and he looked genuinely relieved.

Astrid nodded slowly. "That is pretty good. Wow." She looked at Blake. "Congratulations Princess. Did he say anything else…you know…about the you-know-what." The You-know-what was the very painful subject of Blake's betrothal. When he was fifteen, Zabini Senior had told his only son that it was very likely that he find himself contracted to marry a pureblood of the family's choice when he graduated from Hogwarts. The timing could not have been worse. It was the summer after Fifth Year when Blake had finally woken up to that astounding phenomenon that was the teenage girl. It was also the year that he had, in separate instances, kissed two of the most desirable girls in the school, namely Rose and Dominique Weasley. To be told that his life and who he had to spend it with would be planned for him was to him the greatest evil possible. And so, Blake had, in a very uncharacteristic manner, revolted against this show of parental authority. He ran away from home. Simply packed a bag and left his house in the middle of the night, only to show up at Malfoy Manor and trigger half a dozen deadly alarms.

It was fortunate that Scorpius's father had been awake at the time, and he quickly disengaged the traps and alarms. Blake had been relatively unhurt; you couldn't simply waltz into the Malfoy family seat without so much as a by-your-leave and expect to emerge unscathed. Lucius Malfoy had been furious. When the Zabinis arrived to collect their wayward son, their fury had also been palpable. The day had been saved surprisingly by Narcissa Malfoy. As the Zabinis apologized for the trouble, she brushed their words aside and said, "Consider this a warning. Not all those who run away ever return to their families. Sometimes, even death cannot reunite them." He never understood what she meant, but his parents must have. There was no more talk of betrothals. For that, Blake reckoned, Narcissa Malfoy would have his eternal gratitude.

He grinned. "There will be no betrothals for me, at least not in this lifetime." He sat back, smiling widely. Astrid smiled back at him.

"I'm glad they saw sense. Dad always said it was stupid to think that we would accept all that old-fangled nonsense in this day and age." Astrid reached up and pulled her ponytail loose. As the raw silk of her hair fell around her shoulders, she sighed, "I can't believe I missed Albus Potter." She pouted. "Couldn't you have told us?" She asked Scorpius aggressively.

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "What did you want me to do? Send you a Patronus? 'Astrid, run over here as fast as you can, Albie Potter is here'." He huffed scornfully.

Astrid shrugged. "It would have worked."

Scorpius examined her thoughtfully. "You really like him."

Astrid smiled. "What's not to like?"

Scorpius nodded slowly, some sort of hazy plan forming in his mind. "So you know everything about him, right?"

Astrid blushed. "Well I don't like to brag, but short of knowing whether he prefers to bottom or top, I know most everything else."

Blake narrowed his eyes and looked at Scorpius suspiciously. "Why are you so interested in Potter all of a sudden?"

Scorpius allowed a slow smile to stretch across his lips. He arched an eyebrow, "What makes you think I'm interested specifically in Potter? I could be interested in people _related_ to him." He smirked. Blake seemed taken aback but only for an instant because he was suddenly grinning from ear to ear and shaking with barely suppressed laughter.

"Oh this is going to be good." He raised his empty Butterbeer bottle. A waitress waved her wand, levitated and placed a fresh bottle at the table. Astrid looked at him with wariness.

"Somehow I don't like the sound of that."

Blake nodded vigorously, his eyes glued to Scorpius, as though relishing what was to come, "Oh just give it a second. You'll know soon enough." Blake continued to grin like a madman. He had a fair inkling about what Scorpius was talking about. He wasn't blind and he wasn't stupid. He'd been Scorpius's friend long enough to know exactly how his brain worked.

Scorpius shook his bangs out of his eyes. "What do you know about Lily Potter?"

Astrid turned to him very slowly, only to blink and gape at him. Across the table, Blake burst out in laughter, pressing his fist into the table top. "Oh I knew this would be good." He chortled with delight.

Astrid continued to stare at Scorpius. Finally she picked up her Butterbeer bottle and after draining half of it, she placed it back on the table and looked at her friend again. "Excuse me? What did you just say? I think I heard something wrong."

Scorpius glared at her. "Lily Potter. I asked you about Lily Luna Potter." He turned to glare at Blake who had begun to laugh again.

Astrid fought a smile. "Ahh Potter Number Three. Why do you want to know? I mean, are you interested or something?" She asked with a sly smile.

Scorpius shrugged nonchalantly. "She's cute."

"Merlin and Morgana, the boy's lost his marbles!" Astrid keeled over in laughter.

Scorpius scowled. He couldn't see what was so funny. "What's so funny?" His scowl turned uglier as both his friends laughed even louder at his simple question.

Finally managing to put a lid on his laughter, Blake recovered first and shook his head. "Just this, er – let's put it this way. You're not exactly her type."

Scorpius arched an eyebrow. "Do you even know her type or are you just making this up as you go?" He looked completely unconvinced.

Astrid snorted derisively. "Shut up and listen to the master." She pulled her back straight and stared back at him primly. "Now then, Lily Potter – well, she's very reserved you know, doesn't make friends easily, in fact, I don't think she has any friends who aren't already related to her, which is strange because she's really nice, and I've seen this first hand. She likes to study and she's the only Potter kid who doesn't obsess over Quidditch." She shrugged. "Apart from that, she's been with Lucas Jenner since Fourth Year and oh yeah, I've noticed that all the Potter-Weasleys have this tendency to hover around her. They never let her out of sight."

Scorpius frowned, remembering snatches of a conversation the night of the Ball. Lucas had yelled at her for leaving the Ballroom alone, without telling anybody. "Yeah, what's that about?"

Astrid shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe something happened when she was younger. Maybe they're scared she'll get lost." She laughed.

Blake smirked. "In short, you're not her type."

Scorpius squinted at him, "Where in that long speech did you surmise that I'm not her type?"

Blake shook his head. "Think about it – she likes nice blokes, you know, like Jenner, blokes who can be safely introduced to Mum and Dad."

Scorpius laughed. "And I'm not respectable enough?"

Astrid began to play with the ash tray on the table, making it twirl and dance on the table top. "You're heartbreak waiting to happen; besides you're a Malfoy. Case closed."

A shadow passed over his face and Scorpius leaned back in his seat. "Would that really matter?"

Astrid set the ash tray down and looked at him with suspicion. "What exactly are you planning Scorp? And why the sudden fascination with her?" Astrid asked with a touch of asperity. She didn't understand. Scorpius had never professed even a passing interest in any of the Potter-Weasleys, until now. In fact, he made it a point to steer clear of them almost as though they existed on two different planets.

Scorpius shrugged it off, playing it down. "Nothing. It's like I said, she's cute."

Anger flashed in her eyes and her voice became hard. "If you just want someone new to snog, there are plenty of other girls who will gladly take Cassie's place. There's really no need to go chasing after a girl who's already taken unless you have a very good reason. Especially _this_ girl. That's just asking for trouble." Astrid was by no means close to any of the Potter-Weasleys, but it was plain to anybody who bothered to look that they cared deeply for each other. Underneath the pranking, leg-pulling and constant bickering, there existed a deep and abiding affection for each other. If Scorpius played his usual game with Lily, she knew it wouldn't go down easy on any of them.

He rolled his eyes, clearly irritated with Astrid's chastisement. "Fine. Whatever you say Mum."

Astrid persisted. "I mean it Scorp, it may not look that way because Albus is busy trying to be a 'cool' older brother, but he is crazy-protective of Lily."

"I get it Astrid, knock it off." His voice was low, underlined with warning.

"Just saying, is all."

"Astrid…" he growled in warning.

She held her hands up, trying to placate him. "Okay, alright. Backing off….now….so, who's buying me ice cream?"

X

Scorpius rose to his feet gracefully and silently. He brushed Floo powder, off his shoulder and turned to put the fire out. As the flames extinguished, the hallway descended into darkness once more and he felt a familiar chill race down his spine. Here, in his family home, warmth was limited to the rooms inhabited by his mother and grandmother. His Grandfather revelled in the crypt-like stateliness and elegance of Malfoy Manor and his father was comforted by the familiar opulence conveniently maintained by the small army of house elves that Lucius Malfoy insisted on keeping, another one of the many laws the Malfoy family was still breaking. He was the only one who never felt at ease within these walls.

Buttoning his jacket up, he made his way towards the grand curving staircase that led to the upper levels where his room was situatedlocated. No sooner had he placed a foot on the first step, that his limbs felt frozen in place. He'd been caught.

The languid, disdainful voice of his grandfather floated down from the first floor hallway, "I see you have finally deigned to honour this threshold with your presence." Scorpius curled his fingers into fists and waited. Grandfather always made sure he had his complete attention before lifting the body binding spell. Sure enough, as soon as his eyes met his grandfather's, the chilly feeling of stiffness began to melt away.

"Grandfather," He croaked. His throat was dry, whether from the lingering effects of the spell or because of his surprise at being caught, was something he wasn't clear about.

"Tell me Scorpius, how many times must you force me to act in such a barbarous manner before you learn to respect the rules of this house?" Lucius's eyes blazed dangerously, belying the softness of his tone. He was displeased.

Scorpius bit the inside of his cheek and quickly gauged the merits of replying truthfully as he felt, or concocting a lie convincing enough to escape the scrutiny of his grandfather at this late hour. Choosing, he tempered his tone respectfully and replied, "My apologies sir, I did not mean to wake you."

Lucius smirked. "Ahh yes, what you meant. Scorpius, what you mean and what you do are no longer such different things that I may consider your apology to be even remotely sincere. You have long treated my leniency with disdain. Well, do not expect to do so any longer. You may fool your father but I know a mutinous thought when I see one." He laughed. "Your father thinks it is a mere youthful indiscretion, a phase of yours that you will soon grow out of. But I know better."

Scorpius carefully kept his expression neutral. "It is unfortunate that you believe so." Scorpius replied softly, keeping his eyes carefully trained on the floor between his grandfathers's feet. He could with his tongue but he just didn't trust his eyes to keep the façade up as well.

Lucius turned to leave. "Even youthful indiscretion has a limit Scorpius. You are swiftly approaching yours. It would be wise to understand where your loyalty should lie." His robes billowed around him as he began to walk away.

Scorpius let out a tightly held breath and pressed his fists against his eyelids. That had gone better than he could have expected. Truth be told, he had expected grandfather to be more than just disgruntled. He had expected fireworks. After all, it was not everyday that Lucius Malfoy held a formal dinner for his associates. And if his wayward grandson did not make an appearance, then yes, fireworks were to be expected. Scorpius leaned against the balustrade heavily.

He simply could not ignore the feeling that this was not the end of it. Several minutes later, after he'd shaken off the heavy feeling of dread, he walked briskly to his room and carefully locked the door behind him. His trunk was already packed; all his belongings painstakingly placed inside. He sat down on the edge of his bed, looking at his trunk. In a couple hours more, he would be on his way to Hogwarts and he could put grandfather and his machinations out of his mind. Hogwarts was the one place where Lucius would never get to him.

X

Astoria Malfoy blinked rapidly, hoping desperately that her tears would not escape her eyes. "Be careful Scorpius." She gently rubbed her thumb over his cheekbone.

Scorpius winked at her. "Aren't I always careful?" He grinned widely as his mother's attempts to frown went to nought as usual. There was a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Astrid smiling at him, holding her cat Ira in her arms. Astrid grinned at Astoria who smiled back. Taking his leave from his mother, Scorpius followed Astrid on to the train. Carefully picking their way through the throng of bustling upperclassmen and bungling first years, they made their way to a carriage near the end of the train.

The whistle sounded shrilly and the train lurched forward, picking up speed. Conversation turned once more to things they'd done over the summer, girls – in Scorpius and Blake's case, Albus Potter – in Astrid's. They continued to joke and argue amongst themselves until there was a tentative, almost timid knock on the door. They looked at each other curiously. It was strange that someone should knock on their door. Apart from the notoriety of his family name, Scorpius also had the reputation of being volatile, aggressive and a troublemaker. Why would anybody willingly put their hand down the snake pit?

The three exchanged glances. The knock sounded again, this time a little louder. Astrid rolled her eyes and called out, "Come in, already,"

There was silence, then the distinct sound of the door being pushed open. A delicate hand with pale fingers gripped the panel of the door, preventing it from bursting open, followed by a head of red hair. Shaking her bangs out of her brilliant eyes, Lily Potter stood on the threshold of their compartment, biting her lip and looking absolutely adorable.

X

Please comment


	4. Books, Cousins and Conversation

**Summary:** Lily Luna Potter didn't care much for bad boys. So what if Scorpius Malfoy had the charm of the devil, the looks of a god and a motorcycle that would make Sirius Black proud? Lily X Scorpius

**Rating**: T

**Disclaimer**: Harry Potter and all its characters are the creative property of JK Rowling, who seriously needs to come back to writing about wizards.

* * *

**Black Velvet**

**Chapter 4: Books, Cousins and Conversation**

**"And one by one the nights between our separated cities are joined to the night that unites us."**

**Pablo Neruda**

Lily sneaked a glance into the curving corridor of the train. She turned her face to the right and then slowly to the left. It was empty! There was not a single person standing outside the compartments. She could not help but let loose a small laugh. _The gods do smile on me once in a while._ Clutching the book in her hands tightly, she turned casually, and opening the door once again, she popped her head inside and looked for the person who was the least likely to ask her twenty questions before she left.

"Hugo?" She smiled innocently as he looked up. He was playing Exploding Snap with a couple of his dorm mates, Martin Stanton and Dimitri Hague. Hugo glanced at her, brows furrowed in concentration.

"What?" His voice betrayed the slightest hint of irritation. He was losing and not enjoying it. He wished she would just say what she had to and leave him alone.

"I have to return this book. I'll be back soon." She waved the book above her head and stepped out of the compartment before he could protest. She chanced a glance back at him but Hugo had already forgotten about her. He was concentrating on his game and evidently had better things to do than keep an eye on her. She smiled again. _Good old Hugo. Where would I be without you? _ She pouted. Probably stuck in a compartment with Albus, helplessly watching on as the 'girl of the moment' giggled while her git of a brother mumbled nonsense at her. She rolled her eyes. There really was no justice in her world.

Nodding to herself, she began to make her way down the train, deciding once again to write to her parents and implore, beg, plead as she had since Third Year, to let her just sit somewhere far, far away from Albus. She moved aside as a group of very haughty-looking Slytherin girls walked past. She looked after them and sighed inaudibly. That could have been her, but _nooo_. Not-Sly-Enough-Lily just had to get stuck in the same house as _all_ her cousins, with the exception of Molly, who had sorted into Ravenclaw. Clever girl.

Biting her lip, Lily studied the papered walls of the train as she sauntered along the still-miraculously empty corridor. It wasn't that she didn't love her brother and her cousins. She did. She loved them all to bits, but all she asked for once in a while, was a little space to do her own thing. What that thing was, she didn't really know, but that wasn't important. She lifted her head imperiously. It was the principle of the thing. She was simply tired of being looked after all the time. She'd thought things would change with Lucas coming into the picture, but he had simply become one more person who would tell her that this or that wasn't safe for her and she shouldn't do it. She shook her head slightly.

Honestly, you make _a single_ mistake when you're no higher than Daddy's knees and you get stuck with your entire clan keeping an eye on you for the rest of eternity!

Suddenly the door she'd just walked past opened with a snap. "Lily? Where're you going?" The careless drawl of Roxanne's voice sounded in her ears. Lily grimaced and muttered curses under her breath before plastering a saccharine sweet smile on her face. She turned to find Roxanne and Dominique standing in the corridor, looking at her curiously.

The safest thing to do when outnumbered with a predator, stronger than you, in the wild is to play dead. In human terms, this translates into playing dumb. Lily flipped her hair over her shoulder, clasped her hands behind her back in the classic 'innocent schoolgirl' pose and shrugged. "Nowhere."

Dominique smirked. "That, ma petite, is a terminal inexactitude. You have to be going somewhere, even if it just to the loo." She narrowed her eyes. "What are you up to? Where are you going?" She crossed her arms over her chest and raised her eyebrows slightly in perfect imitation of the Fleur Weasley Death Glare.

Lily clenched her hands. She had seen Uncle Bill wilt under that look. Merlin, she'd seen her own father shuffle about nervously under the strength of the Fleur Weasley Death Glare; but the beauty about imitations is that they don't carry even a _fraction_ of the frightfulness of the original. So she squared her shoulders and glared back at her cousins.

"Merlin's pants, it's none of your damn business!" She rolled her eyes. Her voice betrayed a strain of irritation, making both Roxanne and Dominique even more determined to find out what she was up to.

Dominique smiled as wide as a Cheshire cat, her eyes twinkling with mischief as she nudged Roxanne and stepped forward. "Morgana's tits, are you going to snog someone on the sly?" Roxanne giggled as Lily's mouth fell open. Dominique pulled Lily into an embrace, then holding her at arm's length, she fluttered her eyelashes dramatically and sighed, "Roxie, our baby's all grown up."

Lily rolled her eyes and tugged Dominique's arms away from her.

Without missing a beat, Dominique slid an arm around Roxanne's waist, "Why you naughty little minx! I can't believe you'd do something like this. What about poor Doofus?" She asked with mock concern. Roxanne snorted. Everybody knew just how much Dominique cared about him.

Lily scowled, annoyed at the turn in the conversation. "First of all, I am not going off to snog anybody, second, his name is not Doofus!"

Roxanne smiled wickedly. "Yeah, yeah we know. So where are you going? You never answered our question. It all seems rather suspect Lil."

Dominique smirked. "My thoughts exactly."

Lily shut her eyes. "For the love of Merlin, if I answer, will you two monsters leave me alone?"

Dominique and Roxanne grinned and nodded their heads back at her. Lily exhaled slowly, carefully piecing together an answer that would seem plausible.

Dominique couldn't resist one final rejoinder however, "Roxie, did you notice how flustered she's getting? She's obviously up to no good."

Lily growled with frustration before launching towards Dominique with every intention of throttling her. She was stopped effectively by Roxanne who pushed Dominique away with one hand and stopped Lily with the other.

Roxanne levelled a glare at Dominique. "Dom, quit it. This is getting us nowhere. And you too, Lily, behave."

Lily bristled. "Don't you tell me to behave."

"Yeah, she always behaves. I'd like to see her misbehave for once." Dominique quipped. Roxanne stared at her in incredulous disbelief.

"Morgana's sagging tits, Dom! Shut it." Satisfied that peace had been relatively restored, Roxanne turned to Lily and spoke, "Fine, go wherever you were going, but come back quickly. In case you've forgotten, they didn't send you that shiny new badge just to skive off your first prefect Meeting." Roxanne pointed at the brand new Prefect's badge adorning the front of Lily's robes.

Dominique looked as though she wanted to say something else but luckily for Lily, Roxanne pulled her back inside their compartment. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lily sprinted past the next few compartments until she reached almost the end of the train. She peered through the door windows one by one until she found what she'd been looking for, since the moment she'd stepped on to the train. In the last compartment, staring out of the window was one Scorpius Malfoy.

Lily took a deep breath. She quickly glanced back up the corridor, making sure it was devoid of any prying eyes. She clutched the book and raised her knuckles to knock on the door and stopped.

What was she doing? Lily stared down at her shoes. Why was she going to the trouble of dodging her cousins, lying to her boyfriend and sneaking behind the back of everyone who cared for her, just so she could apologise to a guy she'd barely met once? So she had pretended not to know him when they met in Diagon Alley, _so what_? It wasn't the end of the world. He, probably, didn't care himself. She stepped away from the door. As she turned to go, a thought strangled all movement – Yes, nobody knows and nobody cares, but you do. When did you become the sort of person who would ignore somebody who'd been nice to you, simply because other people would disapprove? When did you start caring so much about everyone's approval? What really is so wrong about wanting to make a new friend?

Shaking her head, she made up her mind and stepped back into the spot just in front of the door. She rapped once, but the sound was so weak it barely carried to her ears. She rolled her eyes and tried again, this time, a little louder.

A girl's somewhat irritated voice floated out, "Come in already!"

Lily pushed at the door, but it seemed to be stuck, so she applied a little more force and pushed. The door suddenly flung open. She had the sense to grip the side of the door, before it sent her flying into the compartment. She let loose a sigh of relief and gingerly peered around the door to look at the three occupants of the compartment.

She smiled uncertainly.

They all stared back at her. Lily gripped door even tighter, stumbling over possible things to say, that would make this awkward situation slightly less so. She swallowed and smiled once more and finally settled for, "Hi."

She held her hand up and waved it a bit, hoping one of them would be kind enough to respond to her and spare the embarrassment of looking like a complete idiot.

The dark boy sitting beside Scorpius, whom she knew to be Blake Zabini, chuckled and waved back. "Hi." He was leaning back into his seat, his legs crossed in front of him, practically taking up half the space in the compartment. He watched her as if she was a curiosity. Lily fought the urge not to squirm, under his imperious scrutiny, and struggled to hold her tongue when she noticed him staring unabashedly at her legs. Oh joy. He laughed at this and sat up straight, winking at her, letting her know it was just a joke. He didn't mean any harm.

The girl rolled her eyes; she hadn't missed the blatant once-over Blake had given Lily. "Oh _behave_ Princess. You're about to send her running out of here." Astrid Nott spoke in her customary droll voice. Lily glanced at her. Now, Astrid Nott was what Lily considered to be a real beauty. She had striking blue eyes, black silky hair and a very dry, intelligent wit, peppered with frequent bursts of melodramatic flair.

But the one person she'd come to see continued to stare at her wordlessly.

Scorpius Malfoy had not uttered a word nor made any gesture to show that he was even remotely interested in what she had to say.

Lily looked down at her feet for a second, before deciding that taking things slow really wasn't helping; besides she still had a prefect Meeting to attend. She quickly drew a long breath and looked straight at him. _Right, here we go_.

"Can I…talk to you…for a minute?" She said falteringly, sinking her teeth into her lips as soon as the words had left her mouth. She watched his eyes widen ever so slightly and one elegant eyebrow arch inquisitively.

Not allowing him to respond, she continued, "I'll wait for you outside." And quickly ducked out of the compartment, waiting to see what would happen next.

Scorpius blinked, as she nimbly stepped out of the compartment, before he'd even had a chance to figure out what was going on. He glanced at his friends, both of whom looked just as surprised about it. Astrid had a small frown on her face, while Blake grinned widely and held both his thumbs up at him. Finally, Astrid nodded her head in the direction of the door.

"You better hurry up." Astrid said curtly, her eyes boring into him like arrows. Scorpius felt a surge of irritation rise inside him. What the bloody hell did Astrid think she was doing, going all holier-than-thou on him? He didn't have a bloody clue about this. He scowled. He didn't ask for this. And anyways, who in Merlin's name did Lily Potter think she was, just barging in and demanding to talk to him? And then she'd left! Before he'd had a chance to say anything! Maybe he didn't want to talk to her, or maybe he would have liked to have her say whatever she had to right here, in front of his friends. He didn't have anything to hide after all….unlike a certain bird….

Scorpius stood, and in two strides, he was outside. Lily stood a little way away from the door. She smiled brightly as he made his way over to her but her smile faded as he stood before her. Her back pressed into the wall of the compartment as she watched him. He didn't say anything, but there _was_ restlessness, and a somewhat violent dissatisfaction that hung about his frame. The very air surrounding him seemed to tingle and crackle, with the unsaid intensity that blazed from his eyes. For a very small, insignificant moment, Lily felt threatened and shaken from the relentless perusal of that belligerent gaze.

Scorpius leaned against the wall and pulled a cigarette out of his trouser pocket. Lighting it deftly with his wand, he glanced at her as he took a small drag. Blowing the smoke in the opposite direction, he turned to her,

"You wanted to talk?" He asked without preamble. Lily's eyes grew wide. He was angry about something, she realized. She wondered what it could be. She stared back at him, green eyes gleaming softly. Her brow furrowed in concentration as she stared deeper into his eyes. Flecks of green and yellow, weaved through the hard grey of his irises. Her lips parted in surprise; a gesture not lost on Scorpius. Despite every intention to remain aloof, unforgiving, and down right nasty to the girl before him, his temper visibly mellowed and his lips quirked into a half-smile. "Well, say something."

Lily snapped back to attention. Her cheeks gained a delicate shade of pink as she tried to salvage her carefully-constructed bubbly exterior. She cleared her throat. "Um…yes."

Scorpius stared at her in silence for a moment, before chuckling softly. He shook his head. "Alright, you got me: I am officially mystified."

"Mystified?" Lily asked him, raising an eyebrow in question. Boys didn't get mystified with her. They became disillusioned. Most boys thought she was a red-haired version of Dominique. She wasn't, and she'd seen enough boys lose interest in her and move on to better prospects when they realized she wasn't a super-confident, dominating, captivating, and irresistibly sexy girl. She was just Lily: shy, sometimes awkward, little bit of a loner, library-friendly, childish, pampered and sheltered Lily; who would use her 'innocent miss' face shamelessly to get out of a sticky situation, Gryffindor Bravery be damned. When you inevitably got pulled into Dom's 'great escape' plans into Hogsmeade, and the utter disaster that was Hugo Weasley's dating life, sticky situations cropped up everyday.

She watched him a little warily now. Is that how Scorpius was looking at her? As a Dominique clone? The thought rankled and ate at her; she didn't know why, but it annoyed the hell out of her.

"Yes." He shrugged, not bothering to elaborate further upon it.

"Because I wanted to talk to you?" She asked him slowly.

He gave her a long, considering look. "This is pretty unexpected Red, can't blame me for wondering about it." He stared at her. "Why did you want to talk to me?"

Lily swallowed before answering. Glancing around quickly once more, she looked at him and began to speak tentatively. "Look, about the other day, I think I owe you an apology. I know….you probably thought I was being rude when I didn't speak up when we met at Diagon Alley, but, you see," She bit her lip mercilessly, and began to speak faster. In her hurry to get it all out, the words simply tumbled out of her mouth and Scorpius felt his irritation melting away, at the sight of this girl racing to speak faster than the speed of light, "Albus was there, and if Albus found out I'd been outside the ballroom that night, he'd kill me and then he'd go tell my Mum and she'd tell Daddy and they'd all kill me again. And James would fly down from Prague and kill me as well, just for good measure."

She paused for a breath and began again. "You see, I know it sounds stupid and it is, I mean trust me, I _know_ but I just can't get them to change their minds about it. The thing is, my parents are really protective of me; I don't go anywhere alone. Someone always has to be with me… and believe me, I _know_ it's annoying. But they just want me to be safe and I can't…I can't….sweet Merlin, I can't believe I dragged you out here to listen to my life story. I am so sorry. I just…I'm sorry alright? It's not you. It's not because of you. You didn't do anything wrong. It's me. I know I should've told Albus I'd already met you, and I'm sorry I didn't but I really, really couldn't let him find out I'd been outside at the Ball, because I would be in serious trouble." She looked at him earnestly. She abruptly shut her mouth as she noticed him smiling widely at her.

"Merlin and Morgana," She muttered under her breath.

"Wow, you can talk." Scorpius laughed softly, flicking ash from his cigarette away. Lily crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at him.

"Stop that." She scowled, causing Scorpius to raise an eyebrow.

He chuckled. "You were rambling."

Lily sighed and pressed her knuckles against her temple. "I know, I'm sorry…it's…." She grimaced.

Scorpius stepped away from the wall, taking one tiny step towards her. "It's cute."

Lily froze and looked at him. She shook her head and laughed nervously. "It's not cute, it's mental. It's just what I do….all the time." She ended in a low voice, making him chuckle once again.

"Yeah, well, you're cute too." He flicked his wand, and the cigarette evaporated in a mist of smoke. He pushed his hands into his pockets and looked at her. His dark mood had disappeared entirely, as he watched her with a speculative look on his face. She had gone and pulled the rug on any preconceived notions he might have had about her. Once again, her lack of experience became apparent, as she didn't reply coyly or shut him down completely. Instead, she looked back at him with confusion, as though she hadn't quite understood what he meant by saying that and she was trying to figure it out.

"Can I ask you something?" He said suddenly. She blinked and slowly nodded her head.

"Why do it?" He asked softly. "Why do something that you know is going to make your family so upset?"

Lily bit her lip. "It's not easy to explain."

"Try me."

She looked up. His eyes were clear and honest. He seemed genuinely curious. She took a deep breath. "When you rode in, it reminded me of someone, something very precious to me. So I wanted to look at the motorcycle….because it means a lot to me." She shook her head, smiling. "You probably think I'm an idiot."

"You're not an idiot." He stared back at her intensely. This time she felt it. She felt a searing heat, race up her spine as she locked eyes with him. Something snapped inside her and Lily clenched her fingers together because she needed to hold to something that was real and seemed natural. Something that kept her anchored to the stable, safe existence she'd lived so far. Something that would reassure her that she wasn't going mad, standing here talking to a wild boy with wild eyes.

"Um…well, that's all I wanted to say. I have to go." She glanced up the corridor. "There's a prefect Meeting, and Rose will kill me if I'm late." She backed away slowly, as one would slowly peel away from the vicinity of an angry Hippogriff. "See you." _This is bad, bad, __**bad**__._

She didn't wait to see his reaction.

X

Lily took a deep breath, and then another as the first did absolutely nothing to calm the frenetic thumping of her heart. What the hell just happened? Had she really spent the last seven minutes pouring her heart out to Scorpius Malfoy of all people? Not to say that he wasn't the sort of person people went and poured their hearts out to. He did have friends. She supposed they had little heart-to-hearts all the time, but since when did _she_, Lily Luna Potter go and just start rambling about her unique family situation? Merlin's pants, what was _wrong_ with her?

Here was a guy she had known for a grand total of two days. The number of sentences she'd spoken to him before today could probably be counted upon the fingers of one hand. And yet, she'd told him what she couldn't muster up the courage to tell her own brother. There had to be something really wrong with her. Maybe she'd inhaled something, or ate something funny, or maybe she'd knocked her head and forgotten about it, because _this_ was _definitely_ not Lily Potter behaviour.

And what was the deal with all the nervousness? She hadn't felt this jittery and scatter-brained since….since ever! There had to be some sort of explanation. She had to figure out a way to stop doing these stupid things.

She was startled as the sound of clapping reached her ears. She looked around quickly. Rose had finished the Head Girl speech and was now assigning duties. Lily rolled her eyes and focussed on the task at hand. She'd never hear the end of it if she spaced out during her first ever prefect meeting. She glanced at her fellow prefect from Gryffindor House. Geoff Martin stood beside her, his glasses perched on his nose, and his dark hair pulled away from his face in a ponytail. He grinned at her. She smiled back. Well at least he seemed pleasant. She didn't know much about Geoff, only that he was muggleborn, got along with almost everyone in their year, was pathetic at Potions, and had a massive crush on Dominique, a fact that was made obvious each time he saw her. Lily stifled a giggle. Geoff would actually go green in the face and run if Dom so much as looked his way.

She'd have to talk to him about that. Going green as soon as you spotted the girl of your dreams was really no way of convincing her to go for a drink or something, but that was a moot point, since Dom refused to date anyone below sixth year. However, as she observed Geoff, carefully folding a piece of parchment into the perfect replica of a crane, there was great potential here. Maybe Dom should reconsider.

Lily sighed. When would the bloody meeting get over? She'd already read the Hogwarts Rulebook cover to cover, she'd seen Rose almost every other day during summer. And while the stupid questions and ridiculous doubts might have provided comic relief before, right now she was just too muddled up in her own thoughts to pay any attention. She wanted to be out of there, so she could go tell Dom what had happened, and hopefully have her help sorting out this issue a bit.

_You're cute too._

Seriously, what did that mean? Darn annoying, cryptic, Malfoys. With Motorbikes.

X

Please comment


	5. Houses, Hints and Hearsay

**Summary:** Lily Luna Potter didn't care much for bad boys. So what if Scorpius Malfoy had the charm of the devil, the looks of a god and a motorcycle that would make Sirius Black proud? Lily X Scorpius

**Rating**: T

**Disclaimer**: Harry Potter and all its characters are the creative property of JK Rowling, who seriously needs to come back to writing about wizards.

* * *

**Black Velvet**

**Chapter 5: Houses, Hints and Hearsay**

**Recap**

"When you rode in, it reminded me of someone, of something very precious to me. So I wanted to look at the motorcycle….because it means a lot to me. Maybe it was wrong and unjustified, but for that one moment, I thought I would be closer to…if I could only look at it, even if it was for a minute. They wouldn't understand that. Nobody does." She shook her head. "You probably think I'm an idiot."

"You're not an idiot." He stared back at her intensely. This time she felt it. She felt a searing heat race up her spine as she locked eyes with him. Something snapped inside her and Lily clenched her fingers together because she needed to hold on to something that was real and seemed natural; Something that would keep her anchored to the stable, safe existence she'd lived so far; Something that would reassure her that she wasn't going mad, standing here talking to a wild boy with wild eyes.

"Um…well, that's all I wanted to say. I have to go." She glanced up the corridor. "There's a Prefect Meeting, and Rose will kill me if I'm late." She backed away slowly, as one would slowly peel away from the vicinity of an angry Hippogriff. "See you." This is bad, bad, _bad._

**End of Recap**

Scorpius waited until the train's curving corridor hid her from his sight. Then, and only then, did he allow the tiniest of smirks to curl around his lips. He couldn't deny that he was pleased by her seeking him out like this.

He had been _more_ than slightly annoyed by his friends' reactions to his interest in Lily. Astrid had been emphatic in her demands that he leave her alone, that she was a _sweet girl_ who was in a _steady relationship_ and _didn't need_ to be bothered by him. It had stung, but not as much as Blake's refusal to counter Astrid on it. Even Blake thought that he couldn't be counted upon to do anything, except for play around with a girl's affections and move on if, and when a better prospect presented itself.

Scorpius leaned against the wall. Alright, he couldn't blame them entirely; this _was_ his usual modus operandi. He liked girls, what could he say? There were different things he liked in different girls. Sometimes, it was their face or body, other times it was their laughter, or other remarkable attributes, which he couldn't praise openly, in polite circles. But, he couldn't remember the last time he'd been so intrigued by a girl: Lily was breathtakingly beautiful; she always had this luminous glow around her. He looked down at his feet. He knew all about that glow. It was a light that had evaded his own life so pervasively, that he couldn't help but notice it and be drawn to it when he saw it anywhere. She was a child who'd been showered with so much love and affection, it showed on her skin.

Lily had probably never been through the rigorous social discipline that came as a by-product of being a Malfoy. When every gathering was a test of social calibre, and the ability to draw in and command attention; when each formal introduction was the yardstick, by which any visits to the playground would be allowed, or long, tedious lessons in dead languages, with crusty old men who would glower at him if his back so much as _touched_ the back of the chair.

That carefree innocence that seeped through every pore in her body had been dutifully knocked out of his by the time he was eight. He remembered being ushered into his grandfather's study dressed in formal black robes lined with velvet. He had stood and at the behest of his grandsire, recited an entire canto in Latin. Grandfather had been pleased. He had smiled, a real smile, not the usual smirk or sneer, but a real, honest-to-goodness smile, and said "Very well done, my boy. You will make a fine Slytherin." He had been so happy. To see a _real _smile on Grandfather's face was a rarity; it almost never happened. He had been rewarded generously that night; double helpings of sinful chocolate cake and some ice cream. He remembered basking in the afterglow of that moment for days.

Of course, it hadn't lasted. Grandfather's ire was earned much more easily than his praise, and merely two days later, he had slipped from the tightrope he was so accustomed to dancing upon. He should have known better. He did know better, but somehow, Grandfather's absence made him feel as though indulging in little things once in a while would not hurt him.

Aunt Daphne loved to dance, and she taught him how whenever she got the chance. One day she told him, with a glint in her eye, _'it's time for something young, something fun'_. He had watched with wide eyes as she playfully played a disco track and urged him to stand beside her and make the silliest moves. They'd been laughing and pointing at each other, swaying to the music and giggling helplessly when the door suddenly opened, and Grandfather stood upon the threshold. Scorpius stood still immediately, eyes downcast, knowing in his heart, that he'd committed a grave mistake. Aunt Daphne quickly ushered him out and remained behind to calm the raging storm that was Lucius Malfoy. It didn't end well. Aunt Daphne was barred from visiting, and he'd been caned for participating in such a vile and disgusting activity.

Had Lily ever been caned? Scorpius snorted. Had she even been scolded? He doubted it. But, isn't that what made her so enticing? Somebody so thoroughly removed from the darkness of the world…someone like that, falling into his orbit, making an effort to create a connection to him – it was surprising. Honestly, after that little interlude in Diagon Alley, he didn't even think she had the guts to come and talk to him. But she _had_.

A slight frown twisted his lips. Of course, she was still being clandestine about it – a fact that didn't sit quite well with him. He clicked his tongue against his teeth in annoyance. But, that would soon change. What had just happened was proof of it. He would find a way to ease into her tightly knit circle, and once he was in, ignoring him was impossible. Smiling to himself, Scorpius stepped back into his compartment and once again settled down near the window, completely ignoring his friends' expectant looks.

Astrid glanced at Blake, who shrugged and looked back at Scorpius, who continued to stare out the window as though nothing had happened. Astrid's eyebrow twitched and she pursed her lips, deciding to set her ego aside in the interest of finding out just what had happened outside in the corridor between Potter Number Three and her idiot best friend.

"Well?" She set her book down beside her and leaned forward in her seat, staring at Scorpius, who glanced her way for an instant before turning back to the window.

"Well, what?" He answered in his typical, bored fashion. Astrid turned red with annoyance. She picked up the book and flung it across the compartment violently. The book hit Scorpius square in the chest, making him scowl at her.

"Merlin's balls, Astrid! What the hell?" He rubbed his chest gingerly. The poky old book had metal-sheeted edges and he wasn't going to pretend it hadn't hurt.

"Don't 'what the hell' me! What's wrong with you? You know what I'm talking about, so stop being such a prick about it. What did she want?" Astrid tossed her hair back imperiously and glowered at him. She was still seething. _Honestly_. Scorpius made her want to throttle him at times.

Scorpius glared back at her before leaning back in his seat and purposely looking away. "Nothing."

"You don't spend ten minutes out for 'nothing'."

Scorpius clenched his fingers and smiled tightly at her, stubbornly keeping what had just transpired between him and the girl to himself. "Well, I just did."

"Scorpius!" She stamped her foot and furtively looked around for more things to throw at him.

"Yes, Astrid?" He replied amiably.

"I'm going to kill you! But before that, I'm going to break every last bone in your body one by one." She raged, even as Blake stood and put his hands on her shoulders, rubbing them before coaxing her to sit down. He glanced at Scorpius and gave him a look.

Scorpius sighed, reining his temper in and settling for a teasing jibe. "You know I think you should tone that down a little, I don't think Albie Potter's into that sort of bondage."

"Why, you bloody bastard…!" Blake wrapped his arms around her and physically restrained her from going further. Astrid struggled and thrashed around in his grasp even as he tightened his hold on her.

"Alright, calm down. Astrid! Quit it. And you," He glared at Scorpius, "Apologise to her."

Scorpius snorted. "What for? I'm not going to apologise to her. Forget it."

Blake rolled his eyes. "Just do it Scorpius. Apologise."

Scorpius shook his head. "For what? She's being a nosy bitch."

Astrid yanked her sleeves back. "Oh you are _so_ dead!"

Blake yanked her back by her collar. "No, no, we are not going to start fighting."

Astrid scoffed. "Of course not. I'm just going to bash his bloomin' head in!"

Scorpius stood up, grinning. "Oh yeah, bring it." He tipped his fingers at her. He loved to get Astrid all riled up. She was so entertaining. Of course, she had, again, like the ten thousand times before, not realised that he was joking. She growled before launching herself at him, or she would have, if Blake had moved out of the way. Blake merely grabbed her wrists and held them behind her back.

"Astrid, he's joking. Come on."

"I'm going to ….what?" Scorpius shook his head and sat down again, grinning as he watched the emotions flit across her face. She exhaled heavily and sat back with a huff. "You're the world's biggest prick, you know that?"

Scorpius winked at her. "Thanks."

Astrid was in the process of rolling her eyes when the door snapped open once more. She glanced to the door and stiffened. Nonchalantly, picking her book up again with one hand, she quickly straightened her skirt with the other, for the first time aware of how the short skirt was riding high up her thighs.

"My apologies for barging in on you like this, but everywhere else is full. Do you mind?" Scorpius's face drained of mirth, as the cultured, smooth voice of Raphael Emory reached his ears. Raphael Emory was old blood, old money; a playmate handpicked and approved of by Lucius Malfoy when they were toddlers. He remembered many afternoons spent running around Malfoy Manor, and even more evenings spent fencing in the presence of a common swords master. Scorpius kept a neutral face as he watched the newcomers. Nodding stiffly, he sat up in his seat and watched as the remaining members of the Seventh Year Slytherin Dorm filtered into the compartment, packing the space almost to the rafters. There were a few moments of jostling and adjusting as everyone found a seat. Astrid bit her lip. Scorpius noticed how her jaw tightened as Raphael took a seat beside her.

"I'm surprised you didn't find a compartment." He said evenly. Raphael glanced appreciatively at Astrid, before looking at Scorpius.

"I was supposed to find one, but I was late, and it is no longer feasible to remove people I don't wish to fraternise with from an occupied compartment." The baby blue innocence of his eyes belied the steely tenor of his voice.

Scorpius lifted one end of his mouth. "Of course not."

One of the other boys cleared his throat. Raphael looked up and laughed softly. He glanced at Scorpius. "You must excuse Henry. He has no tact."

Henry Worth, honorary Beater on the Slytherin Quidditch team and arguably the most uncouth person Scorpius had ever met in life, snorted. "We're here to deliver a message Raphael. Let's get it over with."

Raphael sighed and absently rubbed his forehead. "As I said: no tact. Alright Viscount," Scorpius narrowed his eyes. Very few people were aware of his title, Raphael happened to be one of them. The fact that he was willingly volunteering information in front of inconsequential "cogs" was alarming. Raphael was a product of the sensibility that valued information and knowledge as power. He hoarded this power jealously and would not part with it for anything. So why had he deliberately taken his title amongst fellows he did not deem his equals, was confusing, "your continued absence from the Circle has become a matter of concern for us all. As the future Head of House Malfoy, it is your responsibility nay your duty to understand, cooperate and facilitate the endeavours of our….coterie, if you will. I have been charged with bringing you back."

The silence in the compartment was deafening. Astrid stared at Scorpius with wide, frightened eyes. Blake kept a neutral face and refused to look at him. Raphael watched him carefully.

Scorpius tiled his head. "I was not aware that I had to be brought back. Indeed, I was not aware that I'd ever left."

Raphael smiled, "Scorpius, if you'd ever attend meetings, you'd realize to what extent, you are perceived as being one of them, instead of one of us."

Marcus II snorted, "You think you're so smart. Fooling around with muggleborns and traipsing around the country on that bike of yours…"

"Marcus." The warning in Raphael's voice was unmistakeable. Marcus pursed his lips immediately. "Do not forget in whose presence you speak. I know it is too much to ask of your puny mind, but do not hope to think you are equal to your betters."

Marcus shrank back in his seat. Satisfied with Flint's chastisement, Raphael turned to him once again and continued softly, "Scorpius, what are you doing? You are better than this. You know that, you don't need me to tell you what you are supposed to do. Don't you know it falls to you, to restore our place in the Wizarding world? The scales are dipped and the balance is shot out of order. How long do you think we can survive this way?"

Scorpius was silent. "You're exaggerating."

"Am I?" Raphael smirked. "Everyday, we get pushed tighter and tighter in a corner, while imbeciles who have no idea how magic is to be wielded, gain more and more power. Is this right?" He leaned back in his seat. "The Circle does not seek to antagonise and persecute the…newcomers in our world. All we ask is for respect and recognition. We have built the wizarding world with our lives and our blood, why are we being pushed aside?"

He stood. The rest followed. "Think about it." As he turned to go, he stopped and took Astrid's hand. Brushing his lips against it, he smiled at her before calmly making his way to the door and disappearing into the corridor.

Astrid dropped her head into her hands and covered her eyes. Blake exhaled slowly and Scorpius quietly unclenched his fists. He glanced at Astrid, who was taking it the worst. He stared at his hands. After all, it was Raphael. And Raphael unsettled her. It was an open secret in Slytherin House that Astrid was untouchable, not just because Scorpius and Blake would beat the living daylights of anybody who even tried to mess with her but also because the resident kingmaker fancied her. His jaw clenched again. Raphael had never attempted to ask her out, never tried to get to know her; but he simply decided that she would ultimately belong to him, on a whim, just like that. The arrogance of it all was sickening.

"Astrid, you alright?" His voice sounded scratchy as if he hadn't spoken in years. She ran her fingers through her hair and nodded slowly.

Shaking her head, she spoke, "What were you thinking Scorpius? I thought you said you just missed a couple of meetings?

He flinched. He hadn't meant to lie to his friends, but he knew they would worry if he'd told them exactly what he'd been up to during the summer. "I thought nobody would notice. It's not like I speak much at these things."

Blake scoffed. "I thought we talked about this. You cannot turn your back on the Circle, at least not until you come of age, then go ahead and do what you bloody please. In the meantime, can you try and stay out of trouble?" His irritation was born out of worry and concern for his reckless friend.

Appearances needed to be kept up. Pure-blooded scions of noble families like them had very few friends in the Wizarding world. Uncomfortable though it was, it would not hurt to listen to a few pompous idiots whine about their lack of control in the world. Everyone needed a camp. This, unfortunately, was theirs.

"I know."

"Then stop being an idiot." Blake hissed back. It was a testament to his control over his temper that he hadn't socked Scorpius in the jaw for being so stupid. It was unfortunate, but they could not afford to alienate themselves from the Circle.

"I know." Scorpius shut his eyes, effectively bringing the conversation to a standstill. Astrid quietly returned to her book, thumb rubbing away the remnants of Raphael's kiss from her skin. Blake stared at his feet. It was time for the masks to come up and the games to begin.

X

Lily tried to smile but all she managed to do was to pull the corners of her mouth up and hope that Lucas's friends did not recognise the grimace for what it was. The train had stopped minutes ago. Lucas had come to find her.

Dominique had pulled a face, but Roxanne had waved her ahead, telling her they'd catch up at the castle. As they walked away, Lily, who was trailing behind them hesitantly, bit her lip and sent an apologetic glance towards her steadfast cousin, Molly. Molly simply shrugged and shoving her hands into the pockets of her robes, followed Roxanne and Dominique up to the carriages.

Lily felt terrible. Molly would have nobody to ride with this year. Each year, she and Molly would take a carriage together to the castle. Hugo had his own group of friends, Rose, Albus, Dom, and Roxie tended to stick together, leaving Molly out on her own. She grudgingly turned her attention back to Lucas and his friends, most of them from the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. She fought down a grimace. Why were they so loud? Oh right, Quidditch players. It sort of came with the territory. She shifted uncomfortably, Lucas's hand holding her waist in a lock-tight grip. This, again, was something ….different this year. Lucas was being very ….affectionate, yes affectionate. It was noting to worry about though. She would probably get used to being stuck, _literally_ stuck to his side the entire time he was with her. At least, she hoped she'd get used to it fast. It was becoming bloody uncomfortable. Suddenly, out of nowhere, his lips were on hers. Caught completely by surprise, her hands blocked him instinctively before relaxing very slightly. What…. was going on?

"Excuse me." Lily froze. Lucas pulled away from her.

His eyes narrowed irritably. "What do you want, Malfoy?"

"You're blocking the way." Another voice joined him. Lily peeked over Lucas's shoulder. It was Blake Zabini.

"What?"

"Tch, Blake, you're making it too complicated. Break it down, no more than two syllables. Now: Move." Scorpius strode past Lucas, shoving him in the shoulder.

"What the hell, Malfoy?"

Scorpius looked the pair over, eyes heating up appreciatively as they roamed Lily's frame. "Thanks Jenner." He turned to go, then thinking the better of it, turned and stared at Lily. "See at you at the castle, Red."

Lily's eyes grew wide but before she could form a reply, he was gone. Lucas put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. "What an idiot. I hate him."

Lily looked away, hoping Lucas wouldn't notice the blood rushing to her face. "He's not that bad."

Lucas smirked. "You are too nice." Sliding his arms around her waist, he pulled her close once more and bent his head. His mouth brushed against her lips before sliding across her cheek and nuzzling the spot under her ear. Her eyes grew wide as she spotted Scorpius standing next to a carriage. He was looking at her. Something jarred against her nerves and she shut down immediately. The hazy warmth that had begun to spread in her body as Lucas kissed her disappeared, and she felt as though she'd been doused with icy water. Lucas stopping kissing her neck as he felt her sudden stiffness.

"Lily, love? What's wrong?" He looked at her with wide, worried eyes. Lily shook her head, silently withdrawing her arms from around his neck.

"Um, nothing. I just…have this weird….headache." She rubbed her fingers on her forehead. Lucas gently held an arm across her shoulders, supporting her.

"Well, then let's get you to a carriage." He pressed his lips softly against her fiery hair. She nodded quietly.

As they walked past Scorpius and his friends, Lily turned to look at him. He looked back at her quizzically, lifting an eyebrow as he smirked at her. Lily whipped her head back, looking straight. But she couldn't hide the shuddering breath that escaped her lips. She felt warm and it had absolutely nothing to do with the fever she was about to fake.

X

Please comment


	6. Dishonourable Intentions

**Summary:** Lily Luna Potter didn't care much for bad boys. So what if Scorpius Malfoy had the charm of the devil, the looks of a god and a motorcycle that would make Sirius Black proud? Lily X Scorpius

**Rating**: T

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all its characters are the creative property of JK Rowling, who seriously needs to come back to writing about wizards.

* * *

**Black Velvet**

**Chapter 6: Dishonorable Intentions**

**Recap**

"What an idiot. I hate him."

Lily looked away, hoping Lucas wouldn't notice the blood rushing to her face. "He's not that bad."

Lucas smirked. "You are too nice." Sliding his arms around her waist, he pulled her close once more and bent his head. His mouth brushed against her lips before sliding across her cheek and nuzzling the spot under her ear. Her eyes grew wide as she spotted Scorpius standing next to a carriage. He was looking at her. Something jarred against her nerves and she shut down immediately. The hazy warmth that had begun to spread in her body as Lucas kissed her disappeared, and she felt as though she'd been doused with icy water. Lucas stopping kissing her neck as he felt her sudden stiffness.

"Lily, love? What's wrong?" He looked at her with wide, worried eyes. Lily shook her head, silently withdrawing her arms from around his neck.

"Um, nothing. I just…have this weird….headache." She rubbed her fingers on her forehead. Lucas gently held an arm across her shoulders, supporting her.

"Well, then let's get you to a carriage." He pressed his lips softly against her fiery hair. She nodded quietly.

As they walked past Scorpius and his friends, Lily turned to look at him. He looked back at her quizzically, lifting an eyebrow as he smirked at her. Lily whipped her head back, looking straight. But she couldn't hide the shuddering breath that escaped her lips. She felt warm and it had absolutely nothing to do with the fever she was about to fake.

**End of recap**

Lily plastered a bright smile on her face and waved jauntily as the last of Lucas's friends made their way into the Great Hall. The ride to the castle had been exhausting. She'd forgotten the number of times she'd explained that she wasn't very fond of Quidditch despite her parents and her brothers.

"But, you're…I mean, Albus is the Gryffindor Captain! And your Mom was a pro-player for the Harpies! How can you not be interested in Quidditch?" Elijah Davies, Seventh Year Chaser for Ravenclaw was staring at her like she'd grown two heads.

Lily shrugged. "It's not that I'm not interested, I just don't let it take over my life. I mean there are so many more things in the world than just Quidditch. I mean, of course, I cheer my brothers the loudest if and when I watch them play, but not to the point of obsession. It's not like I have to watch every single game and frankly, if the finer points of the game elude me, it's not the end of the world." She watched with amusement as Elijah looked horrified at her statement that a world existed beyond Quidditch.

"But…I mean…your Dad…your Dad was the youngest player to be a part of a Hogwarts House Team and he performed the Wronski Feint in a school match! Doesn't that…I mean…doesn't it mean something to you?" Elijah looked at her with something akin to desperation.

Lily smiled. "Sure it means something. I'm proud of it, but Elijah….he's my dad. I have a whole lifetime of memories of things that mean more to me about him than a fact you can read off a chocolate frog card, you know."

Elijah sighed. "Yeah, I guess so. It's funny though."

Lily didn't know what else to say so she simply smiled back. This was the biggest reason why she steered away from Quidditch talk: because there was no way she was ever going to remember everything her father had done on the pitch. And now with James playing professionally fulltime, there were more and more people who would step up to her and excitedly give her a play-by-play account of the way he had saved a game or destroyed it. And she didn't have the heart to tell them that she didn't really care. Of course, she wished her brother well. But if things were to change tomorrow, if James were to decide to quit or if he lost the spark that made him so deadly on the field, she would still love him. Because he was her brother. End of story.

She snapped back to the present when Lucas tugged on her hand and pulled her into the recesses of a quiet alcove leading away from the Great Hall. They'd arrived five minutes ago but hadn't joined the others for dinner yet. She fidgeted nervously as Lucas's hands ran up her sides, eager to resume what he'd started in Hogsmeade. She was supposed to be at the Gryffindor table right now, helping first years settle in. Thank fully the sorting was still going on. He nipped at her throat, lips nibbling incessantly at the column of her neck.

"I thought they'd never ….leave." Lucas rasped as his lips slid further down her collarbone. Lily bit her lip, feeling her head grow heavy and her skin burn. He pulled her closer. Her breath hitched as his thumbs grazed the sides of her breasts. His fingers slid down her arm to lock just above her elbows. He pulled her tight against his chest and pressed her back against the wall. As his kisses grew increasingly demanding and rough, Lily's hands slowly reached up and pushed against his chest. Not hard enough to upset him, but firm enough to let him know, she was no longer comfortable with it. She didn't know why she pulled back each time. It was something she questioned every time Lucas came near. She liked Lucas a lot, and she recognised that her hormones were amongst the many reasons she had for liking him. She could probably go for hours feeling his arms wrapped around her with his lips on hers but somehow, each time he ventured beyond that, she would panic and skitter away. How many times had he tried to sneak a hand up her shirt only to be stopped by her? How many had she clamped her fingers around his wrist and pulled it down from where it had gone wandering off under her skirt. That'll be kisses only dear boy, no groping or grinding for you.

Lucas stiffened, and then pulled away from her with a frown. Lily smiled winningly at him, knowing that he couldn't be upset with her for too long.

Lucas sighed and leaned against the wall, watching her with a grave expression. "You know, you're such a tease Lily."

Lily laughed. "You know you like it." She playfully nudged his shoulder.

He raised an eyebrow in response. "Do I have a choice?"

Lily simply laughed and dragged him back into the Great Hall. She kissed him lightly on the lips before turning towards the Gryffindor table where her cousins waited for her.

Rose smiled at her as she approached. "Lily, I know I didn't mention it in the meeting but I really appreciate you being such a good sport about the patrols."

Lily bit her lip and resisted the urge to slap her palm against her forehead. She had spent almost the entire meeting mulling over the possible meanings of the words 'cute' when uttered by a certain cryptic but undeniably sexy Seventh Year Slytherin. Great. Just great. What exactly had she committed herself to doing? She smiled widely as Rose continued to look at her amiably. "Don't worry about it Rose. It's no problem."

Rose ran her fingers through her hair between clapping for the latest first year to join Gryffindor. "I know it's not a big deal. But, people are just so difficult about pairing up with prefects from other Houses for patrol duties. It's annoying really. You don't know how many times I'm going to have a bunch of idiots crowding me, whining about the patrol schedule before the week is over." She rubbed the back of her neck wearily.

Lily felt her eyebrows shoot up. Just who was she patrolling with? "Waitaminute, I thought I was patrolling with Geoff."

Rose fixed her with a look. "Well yes, but only two nights out of three. You're patrolling with Raphael on Fridays."

"I am?" Lily replied uncertainly, her eyes drifting off towards the Slytherin table, seeking out the Seventh Year prefect Raphael Emory. Just as she clapped her eyes on him, Raphael happened to look up. He smiled and raised his glass at her. Lily smiled and waved back at him cheerfully.

"Tsk-tsk… really Lily. What's wrong with you?" Rose straightened in her seat, a small frown threatening to mar her pretty features. "I asked you if you had a problem, you said no."

"Well I don't have a problem with it per say, it's just…I forgot about it, I guess." She looked down the table to where Geoff was chatting happily with a bunch of Fourth Years.

"How could you forget about something like this? Weren't you listening at the meeting?" Rose snapped back at her, her irritation with the entire ordeal of being Head Girl finally catching up to her. She had counted upon finding some much-needed support from Lily. Albus was, essentially, useless. He was the enforcer of the rules, and mediator of squabbles, but the nitty gritty, everyday patrol schedules, and other boring details and planning would have to be overseen by her.

"I was but_" Lily trailed off as she noticed Molly at the Ravenclaw table. She knew Molly would never complain but it would not have been comfortable riding to the castle alone or with people she didn't know. They were both shy and awkward around new people, but Molly took it a step forward. Her aloof demeanour made people think she was a stuck up snob, which she wasn't.

"Never mind Rose. Cheer up." Smiling, she made her way to her cousin. Lucas looked up hopefully as she approached. She pecked him on the cheek before moving past him and settling down beside Molly.

"Hi."

"Hi." Molly smiled back. The girls stared at each other wordlessly for a moment before bursting into peals of laughter. Heads turned as people tried to figure out what had happened, but Lily and Molly paid them no mind, too busy laughing to actually notice.

A few seats away Cassie rolled her eyes before muttering 'freaks' under her breath to Sophia. Tossing her curls, she looked at the Slytherin table. Scorpius was sitting with Astrid and Blake at one end of the table. The rest of the Slytherin Seventh years occupied the opposite end of the table, with the first years dead in the middle, with second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth years sitting in around them in order of seniority. It was a defensive seating arrangement the snakes had developed once Hogwarts had reopened, in a bid to protect their lower years from any kind of bullying from the other Houses during meal times. With the senior most students at each end, few ventured towards the Slytherin table unless they had a _very_ good reason.

Cassie smothered a sigh as she stared at Scorpius. She'd curse his good looks if she could. How could a bloke that handsome be such a cold, unfeeling bastard was completely beyond her. Scorpius was as slippery as an eel. There was a reason why girls across year and House lines set their caps on him. He was so unpredictable and he never seemed to settle on a girl. He had a different girl for almost every Hogsmeade visit. He could be charming when he chose, but the trouble was he didn't choose to be very often. Most often, he was brusque, callow and downright difficult to pin down and even carry out a conversation with.

She'd met him at a Quidditch after party. Sparks had flown and she'd found herself cloistered with him in the cloak cupboard for the rest of the night. She'd been thrilled when he owled her a few days after the party, wanting to see her again. She saw him off and on during the summer. They were together but nothing serious. She kept telling herself not to hope for too much, knowing that he was prone to skittering away at the slightest provocation. But, when she had somehow managed to retain his interest for more than four dates, she'd started to hope.

Big mistake.

He hadn't bothered to come find her on the train and now he ignored her even as she attempted to catch his eye. Cassie scowled. She'd known his reputation before she'd met him but nothing could have prepared her for the experience of actually being with him. He was a _tempest_. You only had to look into his eyes to know that. There was something wild and untamed in his eyes that clashed with his cold, unruffled exterior. She always felt as though she was standing on eggshells around him. She could never understand whether he was joking or merely being cruel at times. This uncertainty frightened and excited her in turns. It was unnerving how a bloke could be a smooth, charming rogue in one instant and a cold, callous berk in the next. He _never_ owled her back that day in Diagon Alley. She didn't know whether to scream at him or pretend nothing had happened.

She sat up straight and looked at him once more. Drawing a breath, she made up her mind and crossed the hall. One did not simply rush into conversation with Scorpius Malfoy. A clear-cut strategy was required, as well as the ingenuity to salvage the conversation in case he sent it on an entirely different tangent. It was like walking a tightrope – one needed precision, balance and nerve. Standing squarely in front of him, she ignored the baffled looks his friends sent her and focussed upon him. "Scorpius. We need to talk."

He lifted his eyes lazily to hers. She steeled herself. Leaning back, he glanced at her and spoke in his characteristic bored tone, "What do you want to talk about?"

Despite her best efforts, her temper flared. She frowned. "In private? I'd appreciate if I didn't have an audience." Her eyes flashed, and before she could stop herself, she shot a glance towards Astrid. Astrid looked back at her incredulously before turning to Blake and lifting her eyebrows. Cassie realized that she'd made a mistake the minute the words left her mouth because Scorpius now looked at her with cold, unforgiving eyes. Gone was the laidback, I'm-too-bored-to-care attitude and in its place, she was faced with a Scorpius who seemed sharp and in a mood to be difficult.

"Frankly love, I don't give a damn. Say what you have to or leave." He looked away, signalling an end to the conversation as far as he was concerned. Cassie felt her heart plummet down to her feet. She surreptitiously glanced down the table. Nobody was looking at her, but all conversation had stopped, as though they were just waiting for her to speak. From the corner of her eye, she could see Raphael and Cesare, a Sixth Year Slytherin, look at her interestedly. She glanced at Scorpius, this time smiling sweetly at him, like she'd seen Princess Potter do with Lucas.

"_Please_ Scorpius." She poured as much sugar into her words as she was able and pouted demurely just for good measure.

Scorpius stared at her, then heaving a sigh, he stood and walked a few paces away from the table. Shoving his hands in his trouser pockets, he glared at her. "Alright, here we are. Private enough?"

Cassie bit her lip. "Are you mad at me?" She continued to speak in the saccharine sweet tone she'd used before.

Scorpius arched an eyebrow. He shook his head and finally replied, "Tch. I'm not mad at you. But there has to be a reason why we're standing here like idiots when we could have been sitting at the table. But, I assume you'll tell me all about it. So spill, what is it?"

Cassie moved closer, "You never owled me back. You didn't even come see me on the train. I was so worried."

"Why?" Scorpius watched coolly as she drew slow circles on his shirt with her index finger.

"I missed you." She glanced up at him through her lowered eyelashes.

Scorpius stared at her. "You could have come to see me as well. Why didn't you?"

"Because you didn't bother to keep in touch. I mean, we go on a few dates, everything's fine and then suddenly you disappear. I didn't know what to think."

"So instead of looking for me on the train, you decided to wait and see if _I_ came to _you_." Scorpius spoke softly, eyes gleaming as he deduced exactly what had taken her so long to initiate this conversation. A thin smile made his lips curl. When you had played the game for as long as he had, it was hard to miss the little things that betrayed the opposition's frustration.

"You're making it sound like it's my fault." She replied petulantly. Her fingers clenched around the pearly-white button of his shirt, and she stuck out her bottom lip. With her golden curls and blue eyes, Cassie looked almost angelic.

Scorpius laughed. "Cassie, it's like you said, we went on some dates, that's it. I don't know why you're getting so worked up about it. I didn't expect it to matter."

Cassie straightened her back; her fingers fell away from Scorpius and her eyes flashed with righteous fire. "I don't believe it. You are such a _lowlife_, Scorpius. Leading me on…"

"Now you're just making me laugh."

"What?"

"Yeah. Explain how I'm a lowlife again?"

"Because you never bothered to break up with me!"

"I wasn't aware we had something that could be broken off. Do a couple of dates count as something to be broken off? I don't think so." He looked away and found his attention caught by a pair of red-heads laughing and joking with each other at the Ravenclaw table. Wait…Ravenclaw table? Oh right, Molly Weasley was a Ravenclaw. His eyes narrowed as Lucas Jenner left his friends to sit beside his girlfriend, even as Molly's smile grew just a little tighter.

Cassie stared at him in disbelief. She felt red-hot anger course through her blood. How could he just toss her aside like that? How dare he? Blokes waited weeks for one date with her. Some even left their girlfriends. She was itching to reach for her wand and hex him into the next century but somehow managed to control her temper. Hands shaking, she looked at him and frowned quizzically as she found him looking somewhere else. Her anger spiked dangerously and her wand hummed inside her robes, simply waiting to come out and teach the insolent Ice Prick a lesson. She was about to walk away in disgust when she realised that he wasn't just staring off into the distance. No, he was relentlessly focussed upon something. She turned and slowly tracked the path of his gaze, stopping cold as it landed on Lily Potter.

Lily Potter. Something clicked into place in her head. Lily Potter…that day in Diagon Alley. Lily had been there and she could have sworn something happened between Scorpius and Perfect Princess Potter, she just didn't know what…yet. She'd find out though.

Cassie clenched her fingers around her wand. Her lips twisted into a snarl. She fought down the irrepressible urge to scream and throw a Blasting Hex at the girl. Taking deep breaths, Cassie turned away from Scorpius and calmly walked back to her friends, her nimble mind already piecing together a plan to get back at the girl. Because if Lily had piqued Scorpius' interest then the least she would do would be to make the girl miserable. Someone had to suffer for the pain she felt right now. And she knew exactly what she had to do.

X

Molly yawned wearily as she left the shower stall. Dumping her clothes on the dry side of the bathroom counter, she sluggishly began to brush her teeth, frowning at her reflection now and again. She was so sleepy; she could just drop down right then and there and fall sleep. She quickly rinsed her mouth out and running her hand through her hair, decided that she would forego brushing her mane tonight. Her hair had a personality all of its own, and while Lily claimed it was a Veela, because it was so luxuriant and glossy, Molly knew, just _knew,_ that her hair had the soul of a banshee, because it made her scream in pain with the way it got tangled into knots while she slept. It was in the interest of avoiding pain in the morning, that she brushed it every night, but she simply did not have the strength for it.

Sighing, Molly quickly pulled her hair into a braid, picked up her clothes and exited the bathroom. As she approached the Fifth year girl dorms, she could hear sounds of giggling and squealing emerging from her dorm. She rolled her eyes.

Oh _joy_. Another night to be regaled with stories of how utterly devastating Scorpius Malfoy was, how he was _such_ a good kisser blah blah blah. Molly braced herself as she turned the doorknob and stepped inside. Sure enough, the Three Bitches and Mouse-in-Waiting Ariadne Synge were huddled together on Cassie's bed. They all had expressions of intense envy and longing on their faces as Cassie continued to talk about her summer.

"I swear, I wouldn't have thought it but he is _such_ a cuddler. He's just like a great, big teddy bear. I have never felt so wanted by a bloke before. And he's just _so fit_ you know." More giggling. Molly rolled her eyes discreetly as she put her clothes away and quietly slipped into bed. Just as she was about to draw her curtains, Cassie looked up and addressed her.

"Oh hey Molly, you're back. How was your summer?" Molly stared back at her in confusion. Although it was not unheard of for Cassie to be polite, she usually reserved that side of her for the boys in their year and above. Lowly mortals like Molly Weasley were lucky if they went undetected by the Queen Bitch for the entirety of the day. Which is why, being so amiably addressed by Cassie completely threw Molly for a loop and she barely managed to stutter back a reply.

"I…uh…um…was great. Really nice. Went to Flanders. Um…yeah." Inwardly cringing at her staccato response, Molly pulled her lips into something that resembled a smile and nodding carefully at each of the Three Bitches, she shut her curtains and lay down, completely missing Cassie's sinister smile.

Looking up at the ceiling, she slowly let out a deep breath. Cassie, Queen of the Ravenclaw Girls Dorm had just talked to her nicely, with a complete absence of sniggering, sarcasm, and the usual piss and vinegar that made Cassie _Cassie_.

Who would have thought it? Molly turned over, sleep forcing her eyelids shut. This was going to be an interesting year.

X

Cassie sat up in bed long after her friends and dorm mates had gone to bed. Her eyes were glued to the closed curtains on Molly Weasley's bed. An unfortunate hexing war in their Third Year had ensured that Molly never slept without some sort of alarm charmed into her curtains. Despite her malevolent mood, Cassie smiled. It had been _glorious_. She and the girls had slipped a foul smelling powder onto Molly's hair during the night. When she'd woken in the morning, she had bugs the size of knuts crawling in and out of her hair, around her neck and all over her face. Molly had screamed herself hoarse before the Seventh Year prefects had arrived to take her to the Hospital Wing. Cassie sighed. That had been fun.

She glared at those shut curtains again. Well, she wished it could have been Lily whose hair was attacked by bedbugs but she'd take what small victories she could get. She didn't know what it was about that girl that made her want to do vicious, bad things. She was so fucking perfect it made her sick. Perfect Princess Potter with the perfect parents, the perfect brothers, the family that loved her, good grades, blah blah blah. Spoilt bitch. People like Lily had everything handed to them on a silver platter. She had no problems. All she had was a whole army of people falling over themselves wanting to help her. It was a bloody joke.

Lily just went and took whatever she wanted and nobody ever bothered to tell her no. Well, not this time. Because Cassie wasn't the sort of girl you could push and walk over. It didn't matter if Scorpius wanted her anymore or not. Oh no. It wasn't about him anymore. This was between her and Lily. And this time she'd win. Because if Lily's biggest strength was her family, then she'd take that strength away from her.

Cassie looked towards Molly's bed and smiled sweetly. "You are going to be my very new best friend, Molly."

Oh yes, it was going to be a very interesting year.

X

Please comment


	7. The Times They Are a-Changin'

**Summary**: Lily Luna Potter didn't care much about bad boys. So what if Scorpius Malfoy had the charm of the devil, the looks of a god and a motorcycle that would make Sirius Black proud? Lily X Scorpius

**Rating**: T

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Harry Potter .

**Pairing**: Lily Luna Potter X Scorpius Malfoy

Thank you aclockworkat for your valuable input, which makes this story better and much more fun! And thank you all reviewers and lurkers for reading and loving this story. Onward!

Oh and I don't how many of you noticed but chapter titles have followed a set pattern so far, or did till about Chapter Five, now it's going to go haywire. Song Titles, book titles, quotes, original titles, everything and anything that fits the chapter in question.

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**Black Velvet **

**Chapter 7: The Times They Are a-Changin'**

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As the evening wound to a close, the frenzied after-summer excitement to see the castle and friends had trickled down into a comfortable lull. The irrepressible energy permeating the Gryffindor dorms was gradually slowing down. Lily yawned and smiled happily as each of her dorm mates retreated into their beds and the lights went out one by one, until she alone was left awake in the dark enclosure of the Gryffindor Fifth Year Girl dorm. Wiggling her toes lazily in the bedclothes, she thought about the day's events and sighed. She'd never gotten around to talking to Dominique.

Unlike her measured and staid existence, Dominique was the light and the soul of Gryffindor, much like Albus. The party followed her around and ended when she said it was over. Today was no different.

While the lower years had put their hands up in defeat and succumbed to the weariness of their limbs, the Sixth and Seventh Years were still up and about, and the Common room was as much alive as it had been when they'd been led back inside after dinner. Lily nibbled on her lip before scrunching her face in a grimace and forcing her legs out of her bed. She'd really get no peace until she'd spoken to her favourite cousin.

She quickly pulled on a light jumper and tiptoed out into the hall. Sure enough, raucous laughter and bursts of cheering could still be heard from the Common Room. Picking up the pace, Lily walked down to the Common Room, where a drinking game was in progress.

Lily rolled her eyes and plopped down on the carpet next to Roxanne. "Drinking game the first night back? Are you guys completely mental?" She grumbled at Roxanne, who grinned widely at her.

Lifting an eyebrow at Lily's sour tone, Roxanne replied, "We put the children to bed before we started. What are you doing up anyways brat?"

Lily purposely ignored the 'brat' comment. It was no use arguing with Roxanne. She'd get red in the face trying to make a point, and it would be as though Roxanne hadn't heard a word. Honestly she had the skin of a dragon. "I want to talk to Dom."

Roxanne arched an eyebrow. "What about, pray tell?"

Lily shrugged. "Oh, just some stuff, nothing serious."

"Stuff?" Roxanne looked back at her sceptically. Lily kept her mouth straight and resisted her natural tendency to blush. Focussing on the two boys making complete idiots of themselves in the middle of the Common Room, Lily studiously avoided looking at Roxanne.

"Um…yeah. Stuff."

Roxanne simply rolled her eyes. "You're getting weirder as you grow older. Dom's gone to the kitchens. She'll be back in a bit. Park your bum down there," She pointed to a couple of squishy chairs by the fire. "I'll tell her when she's back." Roxanne smirked at Lily. "Unless, of course, you want to join in." She gestured to the game that was slowly becoming obscene.

Lily glanced at the empty Butterbeer bottle lying in the middle of a circle of upperclassmen, then at the Sixth year girl who was soundly kissing the Seventh year boy she'd been paired up with for all she was worth, and made a face. "I'll pass." Plopping down before the fire, Lily ignored the catcalls and whistles as the Kiss dragged on and on.

She must have fallen asleep because she felt a hand shaking her vigorously. As she looked about groggily, Dom's face slowly swam into view. She was laughing.

"What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you…now." Lily gave Dominique a pointed look. Dominique raised her eyebrows sceptically, but nodded. Turning towards the small crowd in the Common Room, she announced, "Party's over people. Go to bed!" She threw an arm around Lily's shoulders and pulled her along. Once inside the Seventh Year Girl dorm, Dom quickly nudged Lily to her bed and drew the curtains. She raised an eyebrow as Lily mumbled 'Muffliato' filling the ears of any person in the vicinity with a faint buzzing sound. There was a slight hum and momentary feeling of cold sprinkled over them both.

Dom leaned back into her pillows. "What's going on baby girl?"

Lily bit her lip. "I have to confess something." Dom nodded encouragingly. "Do you remember when we went to Diagon Alley?"

Dom narrowed her eyes. "Last time or the time before that?"

Lily slowly traced the thread pattern on the bed sheet with her finger. "Last time."

Dom nodded once more. "I remember, why?"

This was it. Lily drew a deep breath. "That wasn't the first time I met Scorpius Malfoy."

Dominique stopped her fidgeting and slowly looked up at Lily. "I'm sorry, what?"

Lily drew a shaky breath. "Okay, I'm about to tell you something that has the potential to ground me for life if Mum ever gets to hear of it. So Dom, you cannot tell anybody what I'm about to tell you right now."

Dom narrowed her eyes. "When have I ever told anyone what we talk about in confidence?"

Lily dragged her fingers through her hair. "I'm just saying. I know you won't tell anyone but, the honest truth Dom is, if Mum ever finds out….she'll be so disappointed." Dominique remained silent. She understood. She knew what Ginny meant to Lily. Theirs was the closest mother-daughter bond she'd ever witnessed. It was the one thing Lily had that she didn't. It wasn't as though Fleur was a bad mother, no far from it, but the kind of connection she shared with Victoire often made Dominique feel like a third wheel. Victoire was beautiful, classy, dignified, ambitious everything that made her the parent's dream daughter. And she….well suffice to say, the less her parents knew about the things she did, the better…for them.

However, Lily and Ginny had never had that problem. They were like sisters. Lily told her mother everything. There wasn't a single aspect of her life that Ginny didn't know about. So for Lily to hide something from Ginny meant it was serious.

Dominique smiled teasingly. "Wow, you really are growing up eh?"

Lily bit her lip. Dominique immediately regretted teasing her precocious cousin. She sat up and clasped Lily's hand. "I'm sorry Lily; I didn't mean to joke about it. Okay, I'm serious. Tell me what happened."

Lily pushed her hair away from her face. "Okay. Right, do you remember the Ministry Ball?"

Dom shrugged. "Of course I do."

"Well, do you remember that really loud vibrating sound," Dom looked doubtful, "right after you came into the ballroom with Damien and Rose?"

Realisation dawned on Dominique and she nodded vigorously. "What about it?"

"I asked Daddy about it. He told me it was a motorbike."

"Okay…then?"

Lily bit her lip again. "So then, I decided to go out to take a look at it…"

Dominique kept nodding until she noticed Lily's guilty expression. Something clicked in her mind. She sat up straight. "Don't tell me…..you sneaked out of the ballroom?" Dominique's voice rose alarmingly. Lily gave a one-shouldered shrug, not wanting to look into Dominique's eyes.

Dominique exploded in anger. "Morgana's tits Lily! Are you completely mental? Do you have any idea what could have happened? What you were risking?" She shook her head in disgust. "And on the night of a public event? Have you taken leave of your senses? Anybody could have been there, Lily, anybody! Out of the hundreds of people there, anyone of them could have taken you and none of us would have known. How could you do something so… so reckless!"

Lily hung her head. "I'm sorry." She replied in a small voice.

"You're sorry? You should_" She stopped abruptly. Lily seemed to shrink inside herself. She looked so tiny, lips turned down, eyes heavy, hands clenched tightly around the bedspread.

Dominique sighed. How could she be angry with her when she looked so defeated? Besides, what had happened wasn't Lily's fault. She hadn't asked for this. And it was frustrating, not being able to go anywhere or anybody without a trusty family member tagging along. The freedom that she took for granted was a concept completely alien to Lily. She instantly regretted shouting at Lily like that. The younger girl had come to her for support and help not for yelling. She already had Albus to do that. Dominique pulled Lily into a hug. "Don't you ever do anything so silly again, alright? Or I'll blast you into next week, you hear me?" Dominique took Lily's face in her hands and stared into her eyes. "Nothing is more important than your safety, you got it?"

Lily nodded quickly. "Got it."

"Okay, so you sneaked out to…."

"To look at the motorcycle." Lily finished.

Dominique rolled her eyes. "You're bat shit crazy you know that? I get it if you want to sneak off to snog somebody, but to risk the wrath of your parents just to go gawk at a motorbike…..but anyway, what happened then?"

Lily took a deep breath. "That's when I met Scorpius."

Dominique gawked at her. "What?"

"Yes, I was looking for the motorbike and I tripped, and there he was… Pulling me back straight and steadying me." Lily cautiously glanced at Dominique's face.

Dominique stared back at her with wide eyes. Lily decided to finish her story quickly and launched headfirst into recollecting the happenings of the previous day. Once again, like before, the words kept tumbling out of her mouth like water from a reservoir. "And well we started talking, and I found out that the motorbike was his and so he showed it to me and I was just admiring it when Lucas came outside and found me and he started yelling at me for being outside without letting anyone know and then we left the parking lot and came back inside and next morning, we met him again in Diagon Alley."

She paused to take a deep breath, "But that's not the end of it. I felt really bad about pretending not to know him especially when he'd been so nice to me the night before, so I went to look for him on the train and when I found him, I apologised for ignoring him and explained, and he was so weird but nice, you know, and then I started rambling like I always do but he said it was cute and then he called me cute and it was all _very_ strange and I really don't know what to make of it anymore." Lily exhaled. Dominique continued to stare at her.

Lily looked back at her warily. "Dom, say something."

"Merlin's giant balls." Dom replied softly. She shook her head. "You really are something else Lily."

"What do you mean?"

Dom settled back into her pillows. She shook her head. So many things made sense now. "It's so clear now." She whispered.

Lily frowned. "What is clear?"

Dominique smiled. Everything made sense now. The way Scorpius had stared relentlessly at Lily at the Ball. The way his eyes had followed her after their little altercation with Cassie in Diagon Alley. Even tonight, he'd had eyes only for Lily. Nobody else had noticed; but she had. She had seen him walk away with Cassie only to follow track Lily's path around the room. She smiled to herself. So, Scorpius thought Lily was cute, did he? She glanced at Lily. Lily was apparently still clueless about it.

"So, what do you think he meant?" Dominique glanced at Lily like a cat, her mind turning in slow circles as she wondered how she should play this. Because there was no question in her mind that Doofus Jenner _had to go_. Maybe this was how it was meant to come about. After all, Dominique thought, Lily could do a _lot_ worse than Scorpius Malfoy. But first, she'd have to determine whether Scorpius's interest in Lily was real or not.

"Dom, say something. What do you think he meant by it?"

Dominique smiled. "I think he was just being friendly."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"So…what should I do?"

Dominique shrugged. "Well, it never hurts to make a new friend. You never know…you might end up having a lot of fun."

Lily smiled in relief. "Alright. So, that's it? I should be friends with him?"

"Yeah, don't take everything so seriously. He's just being nice." Dominique smiled back reassuringly at her. Lily grinned and after thanking her, left for her own dorm. Dominique lay back in bed and smiled

Scorpius Malfoy, huh? Well Lily could always use a little trouble in her life, anything to spice things up a little. It would never do for Lily to realize that Scorpius was displaying more than a friendly interest in her. She knew Lily. She'd never be friends with a bloke she knew had a crush on her. She'd say it would be wrong and akin to leading the poor guy on. Well, it was a little sneaky but hey, nobody ever gained anything without taking a little risk. Dominique grinned.

Things were getting interesting.

X

Scorpius splashed water on his face and neck, before a running a wet hand through his hair. He leaned against the cold marble counter and critically ran his fingers over his chin. He stepped away from the counter and stepped out of the bathroom. He hung his towel around his neck and approached his bed. Glancing around the room, he noticed Blake fiddling around with his trunk. Henry was standing in the middle of the room, gently swinging his Beater's bat back and forth. Marcus was already asleep and Raphael leaned over his desk, sticking what looked like a schedule on the wall.

Just as he was about to settle in for the night, there was a knock on the door. Scorpius called out a reluctant "Come in"; when it became apparent that nobody else was going to do so. The door opened, and Cesare Alwyn peered in. He glanced about the room, stopping when he spotted Raphael. He nodded and stepped in.

"Raphael, you're going to have to talk to the girls." Cesare sounded weary. Raphael simply raised an eyebrow.

"What happened?"

It was Cesare's turn to roll his eyes. "Circe and Meredith refuse to patrol alongside the Gryffindors, and Persephone wants to switch so she can patrol with Potter." This last piece of information was delivered with a smirk.

Raphael shook his head. "If they have problems with the patrol schedule, tell them to take it up with Weasley. We don't have much say in it."

Henry snorted in disgust. "You can at least talk some sense into Persephone and tell her to stop trailing after Potter like some groupie." He threw his bat on his desk.

Scorpius stiffened and glanced at Blake from the corner of his eye. Sure enough, Blake had also frozen in place. He calmly shut his trunk and sat down on his bed, eyes wary and watchful. Scorpius slowly looked at Raphael, wondering how he would deal with Henry's volatile temper.

Raphael simply smirked. His blue eyes dripped with icy disdain. "And why would I do that?"

Henry looked incredulous. "Doesn't it bother you? Watching her act like some brainless floozy, every time he's around."

Raphael rolled his eyes. "What do you take me for Henry? I'm a prefect, not Persephone's keeper." He stretched elegantly. "Besides, if it bothers you so much, maybe you should take it up with her. Who knows? She might actually listen."

"But_"

Raphael brushed him off. "Go to sleep Henry." Henry bristled and pursed his lips. Clenching his fists tightly, he stomped out of the room.

Cesare whistled softly. "What's he going to do when he finds out you're patrolling with Lily Potter?" Raphael chuckled softly. Scorpius drew in a swift breath. Raphael was nobody's fool. He wondered how many people in Slytherin actually realized what he was after. Blood was important to him but he valued power and strength even more. Power, even if it came from a source that was not so pure-blooded, after all.

It was something that worried and intrigued him in turns. Raphael was so hard to pin down. He valued the old and ancient wizarding customs, held very specific ideas about the worth of a person in the magical community, held that Muggles were encroaching upon magical space and were something that needed to be controlled at any cost, and more ideas that could readily put a smile on even Lucius Malfoy's face, yet every now and then, he held the potential to throw a curveball that belied everything he stood for.

Scorpius drew his curtains and leaned back against the headboard. Lily Potter. Why was it that she managed to sneak back into his thoughts as soon as he'd banished her from them? He smirked as he remembered the nervous look on her face earlier that afternoon. Jenner had been slobbering all over her neck, but she hadn't seemed to enjoy it very much. Again, very interesting. Why was she uncomfortable? Was it because of the kissing, or the fact that it had been very public?

Judging from the shocked look on her face and the way she had initially resisted Jenner's advances, it was obvious that it was not a normal occurrence, which meant that Jenner had kissed her like that purely for the benefit of any audience he might have. Scorpius scoffed. _Idiot_. Crass idiot. What kind of bloke made a spectacle out of his girlfriend like that? He shook his head. It wasn't as though he hadn't kissed girls in front of a crowd before, but it usually happened with consent, not like some sort of thunderbolt out of the blue. Lily's discomfiture had been plain for the world to see. He'd never do that to any girl, let alone Lily. He smirked. Well that was fine. If Jenner was going to act like that, he really wouldn't have to work too hard to steal his girl.

With these thoughts in mind, he turned over and fell asleep.

X

"Alright everybody, sit straight and shut up! This meeting was scheduled for seven thirty. It is now eight fifteen and we still haven't gotten anywhere!" Rose practically shouted at the assembled prefects. Albus sat on top of a table behind her, lips curled into a smug smile that grew wider each time he noticed Persephone staring at him in adoration. Lily and Geoff sat on a table behind Persephone, sniggering to each other as they noticed Albus winking at her now and again. Raphael Emory stood beside Rose, cautiously peering into her organiser whenever he got the chance. The Hufflepuff prefects compared notes on their "unfair" patrol duties while the Slytherin Fifth and Sixth years were loudly complaining that they wouldn't patrol alongside people who were far more likely to skive on their duties, like Gryffindors, which got the Gryffindors all in an uproar. The Ravenclaw prefects pitched in as well, claiming that their duties to patrol the grounds circling the castle were far more numerous than other Houses, suggesting a clear display of favouritism on the part of the Head Girl.

Rose was about to tug her hair out of the roots when Albus finally decided to step in. "All right, everyone be quiet. The schedule you have in your hands is a fair and well balanced schedule and Rose has worked very hard on it. But if anybody has any legitimate problems, such as clashing with Quidditch practice or detention, you can always come to us and we will change the roster but only for genuine reasons, okay?" He turned to Rose who smiled gratefully at him.

"Thanks Albus. Right so as I was saying, the agenda for today's meeting was to discuss the tutoring sessions the professors told us about. As Heads, me and Albus already undertake Tutoring Sessions for the students who need them, however we have limited hours that we can provide for tutoring and the same goes for a lot of the prefects in this room. Most of you have Quidditch or Duelling or some other extracurricular activity that will be really difficult to pursue along with Tutoring. Therefore, we have found a solution. Volunteers."

"Volunteers?"

"Yes. Each of you has to find volunteers from NEWT levels students; people who are wiling to tutor underclassmen in any subject. Now in the interest of promoting inter-house unity, you have to recruit a NEWT level student from another House. You can't recruit anybody from your own house."

A loud chorus of "That's' crazy!" and "It's not fair!" erupted in the room until Albus managed to restore order.

Rose looked at everyone firmly. "No, this is one thing I am absolutely adamant about; the whole point of the exercise to interact and create relationships within the Houses. If you simply ask somebody of your own house, you don't discover anything new."

And with that the meeting wound to a close. Rose smiled and handed out little pieces of parchment to everyone. Each piece of Parchment had the name of the House from which they were supposed to recruit a Tutor. When the room was finally empty, Rose glanced into the palm of her hand, at the last piece of parchment and sighed. Suddenly, she blinked and her eyes brightened as she was struck by a thought. Hurrying down the corridor, she caught with Lily and nudged her,

"Lily, don't hate me for this. You were my only option. Sorry!" With that, she slipped the parchment into Lily's hand and hurried off after Albus towards the dungeons.

Lily frowned and glanced down at her parchment. Opening it, her eyes grew wide and she groaned loudly. "Smashing."

A single word was written in Rose's elegant script: _**Slytherin**_.

X

Lily braced herself. Waiting outside the quarters of another House was always awkward but you could multiply that feeling by seven thousand if you happened to be waiting for somebody outside Slytherin Dungeon. Lily tried to smile bravely as girls stared her down, and boys unabashedly checked her out or leered at her. But she was seriously considering escaping to the Great Hall when Henry Worth, the Slytherin Quidditch Team star Beater stepped out and looked at her as one may look at a very disgusting insect. She smoothed her skirt and discreetly checked her shirt for smudges. Had she split food on her robes? No, she looked fine.

He didn't wait long, simply glared at her a moment longer and strode off, an angry miasma surrounding him like a bubble. She breathed a sigh of relief as she felt the corridor clear of his malevolent air. Honestly, he was like a wizard Count Dracula, only without the fabled sexiness.

"Lily, my apologies. Have I made you wait long?" Lily turned as she heard Raphael's smooth voice. He looked like he had just stepped off a high-street shop window, his shirt was crisply laundered, trousers without a spot or wrinkle anywhere and ebony black hair effortlessly falling into place. She glanced down at herself surreptitiously. Compared to him, she looked like somebody who'd run a marathon through Hogsmeade in the dirt. Her shoes were scuffed with dirt. Her hair had been smooth in the afternoon when classes had ended, now it just resembled a crow's nest. Her shirt sleeves were wrinkled from when she'd shoved them up quickly while finishing her Transfiguration homework.

"It's no problem. I didn't wait long." She breathed in, recovering her courage and smiled back at him. Raphael was such a gentleman. Honestly she wished the boys in Gryffindor were a bit more like him.

He smiled at her. "Well, that's good to know."

She craftily let him take a few steps ahead of her. If she could escape notice for even two seconds, she would manage to somehow look decent and not like something that escaped from a nineteenth century Bulgarian circus. Quickly she gathered her hair and pulled it into a ponytail. Running her fingers through the ends she hopped on one foot while rubbing the shoe on the other foot against her socks; her desperate attempt at restoring some order to her appearance.

Unfortunately for her, Raphael noticed that he'd been walking alone. Surprised, he turned around. "Lily?" His eyes grew wide as he watched her hop on one foot. "What are you doing?"

Lily stopped. "Oh…umm…just cleaning my shoes." She smiled sheepishly. Raphael raised an eyebrow and glanced down at her feet. He let out a laugh and strode back towards her. Tapping a finger against her nose, he smiled.

"You worry too much."

Lily scowled. "I'm simply trying to uphold my image as a prefect."

"By intimidating students with your shiny shoes?" He replied, with barely concealed amusement.

"Err no. That's your department."

He laughed once more. "Well let me worry about it then. You do what you're the best at."

"And that is?" She asked somewhat testily. Raphael smiled at her.

"Now what sort of a Slytherin would I be if I told you?"

"The nice kind." She grumbled good-naturedly. Raphael laughed and continued to tease and joke with Lily as they walked around the castle on their first patrol together. Raphael had been pleasantly surprised when he realized that he was actually quite fond of the youngest Potter in school. Unlike her brothers, Lily didn't possess the swagger that made it so difficult to get along with either James or Albus.

James Potter of course, had been an upperclassman and so firmly entrenched on the throne of cool that he was untouchable. But his redeeming quality had been the fact that he was far removed from cliques and the power tussles that existed inside Hogwarts. Albus, on the other hand, had always positioned himself as the king of Hogwarts. He excelled academically and aggressively used the pull he had on people to get his way. He was just as, if not more, talented than his brother on the Quidditch pitch, which found him ready followers. And while Raphael didn't care much about Albus' playboy tag, he bristled with uncontrollable jealousy each time he found Astrid casting adoring glances in Albus's direction.

Lily, however, was a completely different matter altogether. For one thing, she seemed to avoid public scrutiny and the blind adoration all the Potter children received as their father's legacy. She kept an open mind about everyone and everything until it hurt her, but it was her easygoing and amiable nature that drew his respect for her. Clichéd as it was, she was really a very sweet girl and it was impossible to stay annoyed or bad tempered in her presence for long. He found himself laughing at the jokes and anecdotes of her huge family as she recounted everything that had happened to her over the summer.

"I can't believe we caught so many people out of bed. It's two hours past curfew!" Lily exclaimed.

Raphael shrugged. "You let them off too easily. Most of them deserve detention."

Lily pouted. "I know, but come on Raphael, nobody wants detention this early in term. It's bad for the morale."

Raphael snorted. "You say the strangest things."

Lily smiled. "It's because I am strange. Oh! Raphael," Raphael looked up to find Lily smiling at him like a Cheshire cat. He stepped back warily.

"Why don't I like the sound of that?"

"I need a favour." Lily smiled brilliantly at him. She even threw in an eyelash-flutter for effect. Raphael didn't seem too amused though, as he continued to look at her with ill-concealed suspicion.

"What?"

"Well, it's about tutoring…"

"Oh no. I'm not doing it. I have too much on my plate as it is. Find someone else." He held his hands up, shaking his head.

"Well that's easy for you to say, but who else is there? I don't know anybody else in Slytherin House."

"Rose assigned you to Slytherin House? Wow that's harsh, even for her." He looked at her sympathetically before clearing his throat and replying, "Well that's the point of the exercise isn't it?"

"Ugh, fine! Alright, just answer one question, who in your House is good at Runes?"

"Runes? Why Runes?" Raphael looked at her curiously, wondering how she'd managed to choose a specific subject with which to approach potential volunteers so quickly. Most of the prefects were still hyperventilating over the fact that they had to request somebody outside their House for help.

"Well, not too many people take NEWT level Runes; it's perceived as a dead subject, so if I find somebody who does, then I can appeal to their finer instincts to help out." Lily reasoned.

Raphael raised an eyebrow. "Nice rationale. Ambitious, very optimistic but definitely probable, if you play your cards right."

"Well, then?"

Raphael sighed, and then furrowed his brows in thought. "Okay, let's see, Runes….okay there are three NEWT Level students in Slytherin, Persephone Tyndale, Astrid Nott, and Scorpius Malfoy. You could ask any of them."

Lily nodded thoughtfully. "I will. I'll ask them first thing tomorrow; at breakfast." Bidding goodbye to Raphael, Lily took a turn at the next corridor and raced all the way to Gryffindor Tower. The Common Room was fairly empty except for Albus. Picking up his books, he was making his way to the stairs when he spotted Lily hovering at the entrance to the Girls' Dormitory.

He smiled widely. "Just back from patrolling, Lil?"

Lily glanced at him. "Yeah."

He nodded. "How'd it go?"

Lily laughed. "We caught at least four very amorous couples, but we let them off with a warning."

"Hmm. Good call. You can't go around handing out detentions second night back at Hogwarts."

"I know, right?" Lily grinned. "That's exactly what I told Raphael and he laughed at me."

Albus frowned. "Emory, right?" He scoffed. "I'm not surprised. Bloke's a cold fish."

"He's not that bad. Besides, he's a gentleman." Lily defended him.

Albus rolled his eyes. "Right. Well, I'm off. I've booked the pitch first thing tomorrow. Gotta be up at four." He ruffled her hair and moved past her, leaving Lily alone to her thoughts. She sighed and trudged up the stairs. Gently pushing the door to her dormitory open, she smiled at the sleeping forms of her dorm mates before making her way to the bathroom. She quickly changed and nestled on her bed, hairbrush in hand. Staring at the ceiling, she allowed all her thoughts to crowd around her.

Something had shifted during this summer. Things that had been so simple before suddenly seemed a lot more complicated. First and foremost in her mind, was her relationship to Lucas. She wouldn't deny that it had started innocently enough. He was handsome, enough to turn any girl's head, and she'd never professed to be anything but normal. Sure, she could've chosen not to date him, considering….well….Cassie _had_ fancied him a lot. She'd always get this vulnerable, delicate look in her eyes when she'd speak to him. Lily squirmed. Perhaps it had been slightly vindictive of her to snatch him away from Cassie. It wasn't something she was proud of and she tried to forget about it as often as she could, but could one really forget something like this? Wasn't it the same thing as lying to herself? She shifted.

Had she been in such a rush to show Cassie up that she'd plunged into something that she was quickly losing control over? That shift she'd been thinking about – it concerned Lucas too. He was older than her, more experienced, in more ways than she could identify with. Earlier today, in Hogsmeade and then in the Great Hall, the way he'd been touching her – she knew she was out of her depth. It felt like nothing Dom had told her about. Each time Dominique had spoken about her 'amorous adventures' she'd always been thrilled, excited, exhilarated even. Dominique was one of the most expressive people she knew. It was natural then that she would hold nothing back. But, even so, even taking into account the fact that she was more reserved than Dom, it should have sparked something delicious inside her.

But it had not.

The only feeling it had given fuel to was one of trepidation. She'd felt nervous, like she couldn't breathe, like she needed to get away from him. It had felt invasive. His hands, his touch seemed to grasp and gnaw at her, instead of a caress, she felt like…Lily sat up in frustration. Merlin's pants, what was wrong with her? Lucas was her boyfriend, her charming, good-looking, kind, sweet boyfriend. She was being stupid, completely stupid. It was natural to feel like this. Yeah. Tons of girls had weird jitters like this and they dealt with them like rational human beings. She'd just have to get used to it; maybe she could sit down and talk to Lucas about how she was feeling and they would find some way to deal with it. Yes, that was exactly what they would do. Talk it over, like mature, reasonable people.

Lily was about to turn over and go to sleep when it hit her. Rose's assignment for the prefects - it would place her in direct contact with Scorpius Malfoy…again. She grimaced. She was not completely sure she knew how she felt about that. Sure, Dominique had said that it would be good to be friends with him, but there was something there that she couldn't quite put her finger upon. Something that she knew she was missing, something vital, something _important_.

Huffing to herself, Lily scrambled out of bed, and snagged her diary from her table. Settling into bed once again, she began to scribble down the reasons why the prospect of approaching Motorbike Malfoy was giving her goose bumps.

Lily and her habit of writing down all her problems had been a source of major amusement to the entire family until her father had stepped in and bought her diary with a charmed lock and key. 'Everyone deserves privacy, little girls even more so,' he has told her. So she would write down everything that bothered into the diary. And that meant everything, even the pros and cons of wearing the emerald green polka dotted dress, (brings out my eyes) as opposed to the sailor-inspired white dress (makes my head look like its on fire!) Nothing significant that had happened to her since the age of eight had escaped this diary. She had promised Dom that the day she bagged five stellar NEWTs, she'd show her the elaborate wedding plan she'd made for herself and Sirius Black at age eight, including the pages filled with recurring 'Lily Luna Potter-Black' in sparkling ink followed around with little hearts.

Lily heaved a sigh and began to write,

**Reasons Why It's Going to be Awkward Seeing Scorpius Malfoy at Breakfast**

1) He seems to be in on some joke regarding me because he looks so amused each time he looks at me.

2) Lucas seems to dislike him VERY much.

3) He doesn't seem very fond of Lucas either.

4) I don't think he'll be very co-operative regarding tutoring.

5) I get butterflies in my stomach and I think I'm going to be sick when I think of him. Insert note: my hands are shaking even now.

6) I have a feeling there's more to his being nice to me than just being friendly. When was the last time he was friendly to anybody?

7) He is dating Cassie. She'll bite my head off if I so much as look at him.

8) I really, REALLY shouldn't do this.

9) I just know he's going to be trouble.

10) Don't ask how, I just _know_ it.

Using her last reserve of energy, she charmed the diary shut and let it fall from her fingers. The diary fell within the folds of the upturned bedclothes as Lily snuggled inside and fell asleep.

X

Please comment.


	8. Persuasion Initiated

**Summary:** Lily Luna Potter didn't care much for bad boys. So what if Scorpius Malfoy had the charm of the devil, the looks of a god and a motorcycle that would make Sirius Black proud? Lily X Scorpius

**Rating**: T

**Disclaimer**: Harry Potter and all its characters are the creative property of JK Rowling, who seriously needs to come back to writing about wizards.

**Author Note**: Hugs to my beta **aclockworkat**. At this point Cat, the only reason this story gets written is because you don't let me slack on it. Thank you!

Thanks to everyone sending love to this story. Reviewers and lurkers alike.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**Persuasion Initiated**

Lily smiled brightly at her reflection in the mirror. Her face was scrubbed clean, her teeth shone and her hair was pulled into a ponytail. She was ready to go Tutor-Recruiting. She quickly dabbed on some lip gloss and grinned at her reflection. Fifth Year was immensely important for anybody who wanted to become a Head student in Seventh Year; it is when teachers start taking note of every aspect of your life in school, trying to ascertain whether you would fit the requirements of Headship, Rose had explained all of this very carefully to her last summer, and she intended to make good use of all the time she had, bringing her that much closer to the Head Girl badge.

Lily hummed happily to herself as she put her things away. Glancing down at her feet, she couldn't help but smile. Her shoes were shining. Lily grinned happily as she thought about it. Take that Raphael, you're not the only one who has the power of shiny shoes anymore, ha!

"Lily, what are you doing?"

Lily stumbled and turned around in a flash. Her dorm mate Candace stood at the door to the bathroom, looking at her strangely. Lily blushed and immediately brought the hand doing Victory whirls in the air down.

"Oh um…nothing. I …uh…just ….well I'm just really motivated right now. That's all, yeah." She smiled and quickly stepped around Candace into the dorm.

She picked up her bag, grabbed her folder and a couple of library books off her desk and hurried out before Candace could come back and start asking questions. There was no time to be lost. It would never do to be late for breakfast today, because breakfast was when it was all happening. Decisions were made at breakfast. Life-altering, direction-changing decisions were made at breakfast and if you missed that, well then wave bye-bye to the post of Head Girl. There was a reason why she was so sincere about any and all prefect-related duties. Prefects were the ladders upon which Head students were made, and if she wanted to be realistic about her chances then there was nothing and nobody who would stand in the way of her finding a volunteer tutor today.

Lily marched down the stairs and out of the Gryffindor Common Room like a woman on a mission. She didn't notice Hugo waving frantically at her from across the staircase, telling her to slow down. She ignored the cacophony of the corridor just outside the Fat Lady's portrait; yes, Gryffindors were loud; and continued to walk on single-mindedly. She held a fat folder containing her Transfiguration homework, an extra credit essay for Potions as well as a few rough ideas for her Charms end of semester project, also in the file was a carefully constructed list enumerating the reasons why volunteering to tutor weak students was a good idea.

According to her plan, she had to catch her three prospective tutors soon, before somebody else sunk their claws into them. It was a race and Lily Potter wasn't one to fall behind. Of course she always had the option of telling Rose that nobody was ready to give time for tutoring and it wouldn't be too far from the truth, but that would mean giving up and if there one thing she was extremely proud of, it was the fact that she wasn't a quitter.

Over the years, she had thought long and hard about doing something that would set her apart from her parents and her brothers, and she had to admit, it wasn't easy. She wasn't a crowd pleaser; she didn't have the sheer magnetism James and Albus had inherited in spades from both their mother and father. Albus had to simply walk into a room and a circle of willing admirers would form around him. He could sweet talk anybody into doing anything for him. It was part of the reason why he was so popular. People listened to him, really listened, and respected his opinion. She wanted that for herself too. But the only things she was good at was studying and helping people and while those two traits did not put her immediately on the 'cool kids' list on Hogwarts they would certainly help in her bid to become Head Girl of Hogwarts in Seventh Year. Earlier her social ineptness and general awkwardness in the camaraderie department used to bother her, leading to a string of extremely embarrassing instances where she had tried to be like Dominique only to fail miserably and end up looking even more of a nerd than before.

She still cringed as memories of the disaster that was the Fourth Year Gryffindor Quidditch Victory Party came to mind. At Dominique's insistence, she had tried to be more "fun", more unpredictable, spontaneous, and daring and pretty much every adjective that described her stunning Veela cousin. Dominique and Roxanne had attacked her with enough makeup and hair curling charms to last an entire bridal party. By the time they were finished with her, she couldn't recognise herself. She had looked stunning, more beautiful than she ever remembered herself as but she couldn't enjoy it because it felt so much like a lie. Roxanne had lent her a racy halter top that she'd paired up with black skinny jeans and they had hit the party. It was a catastrophe of mythical proportions. She went blank each time some bloke came to chat her up.

She realised too late that 'can I get you something' was a euphemism for 'Hey, let's get out here and eat each other's face off.' She decided that she'd had enough when she overheard a couple of Hufflepuff guys call her a cocktease for laughing at their jokes and not getting the message that they'd wanted to make out with her. Grabbing a bottle of Butterbeer, she'd trudged back upstairs to her dorm, washed the makeup off, put her pyjamas on and crawled into bed.

The next morning, she had run into Cassie, who couldn't stop laughing at her pathetic attempts to be something she wasn't. "Face it Princess, prudes like you should stay where they belong, at least until you have the guts to play with the grown-ups."

Two days later, Lucas Jenner, Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain and God of Handsome had asked her out, and she'd never looked back since.

Now, however, she simply didn't care. She couldn't be like Dominique or Roxanne or even Rose but that didn't matter anymore. What mattered was that she had begun to appreciate and like herself, just the way she was – shy, bookworm, teacher's pet – all of it. It was her, and for the first time in fifteen years, it was enough.

As she skipped down the grand staircase, eager to burst into the Great Hall, a hand landed on her bookbag and pulled her back. She felt her body being swivelled around to find a messy-haired Hugo scowling at her.

"Merlin's pants Lily." He huffed noisily. "I've been screaming my head off for the past five minutes, telling you to slow down." He fished a handkerchief out of his pocket and blew his nose gustily. Stuffing the handkerchief back in his pocket, he ran a hand through his hair and stuck his lower lip out.

Lily blinked. "I didn't hear you."

Hugo snorted. "Oh please, everybody within five miles of us heard me, people in Wales heard me, that mangy old cat in the dungeons heard me." He would have continued in this vein, but Lily simply grabbed his arm and pulled him along at her frenetic pace, explaining the reason for her hurry and also telling him to be a good boy and sit at the Gryffindor table while she went scouting at the other end of the Hall.

Hugo glanced back towards the emerald and silver entourage at the Slytherin Table. "You want me to come with you?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "It's just another House table, I'm not going to Transylvania."

Hugo pursed his lips. "Yeah, but Albus says…"

"You leave Albus to me; just watch my library books alright? I'll be back soon." She settled her books down beside him and hefting her book bag up on her shoulders, turned to the Slytherin table.

"Why don't you leave your bag as well?" Hugo interrupted. Lily scowled at him, irritated since he kept cutting into her train of thoughts. NO sooner had she formulated something to say to break the ice with the Slytherins, Hugo would cut in.

"I need something to occupy my hands with." She glared at him. "Now shut up. You keep interrupting me."

"You're not even saying anything!" Hugo exclaimed indignantly.

"I am, in my head!" Lily snapped back. Rolling her eyes, she stood and made her way across the room. Halfway to the Slytherin table, she noticed Raphael sitting at one end. He glanced up and caught her eye. She smiled weakly, but he didn't rise to the bait. He simply smiled back and returned to his conversation with the boy sitting next to him. Lily sighed inwardly. One foot away from the Slytherin table, she raised her hand and waved merrily.

"Hi! Good morning."

X

Lucas Jenner was having a good day. Quidditch practice had gone extremely well, and he had no doubts that this was the year that the Quidditch Cup would be his. He had assembled a fantastic team that worked seamlessly together like a well-oiled machine. They may not have genius players on the team, but they worked hard to cut away all the rough edges from their game. Geniuses and inborn talent was highly overrated anyway. He'd seen so many cases of inherent talent go waste because players did not put enough flying time or training into their game. Success belonged to those who worked for it and this time, it would be his. Lost in his thoughts he hardly noticed Lily walk past the Ravenclaw table until he glimpsed a flash of red on the periphery of his vision. He straightened immediately and glanced up.

Lily. His lips curved into a self-satisfied smile as he spotted her long, silky hair sway between her hips in a ponytail. He loved the way she walked, soft, lilting steps that made her hips swing gracefully. The movement was subtle, understated and elegant. Lily always moved with such grace and fluidity. She was sensual without realising it most of the time. How many times had he stopped from moving too fast with her because the non-verbal signs he read from her body were completely unintended by her. Some guys would complain but he found it exciting. It was little things about her that would make him go spare but he loved every minute of it. Even the way she would tease and lead him on only to shut him down the very next minute; it all kept things between them, interesting.

He loved how she smiled when she saw him, loved how she would blush prettily when he kissed her, loved how her eyes shone brightly as she spoke, but most of all he loved how other guys would watch them with barely disguised envy when she was with him. It was the most overwhelming feeling in the world. That Lily Potter, Harry Potter's daughter, was his. And here she came now.

His eyes narrowed and his jaw went stiff. What was Lily doing at the Slytherin Table….and what on earth was she doing talking to that snake Scorpius Malfoy?

X

"Hi! Good morning!" A bright voice cut through the soft murmuring at Slytherin table. Everybody sitting at the foyer end of the table glanced up. Scorpius gripped his fork tightly in his fingers. He looked away before anybody else noticed how his jaw had gone slack for a second. He could feel the atmosphere at the table change as everybody dropped instinctively into their carefully constructed public faces.

Lily clutched the straps of her bag tightly and smiled once more, hoping that someone would ask her to sit, so she wouldn't have to stand while she made a case for tutoring. She looked over; sure enough her three prospective tutors were all sitting together. She caught Astrid's eye and smiled brightly at her.

Astrid cautiously stole a glance down the table, and then looked back at the redhead now standing awkwardly at the foot of the table. Lily bit her lip and shifted her feet before glancing down at her feet then looking up again, emerald eyes looking anxious. Astrid groaned inwardly even as her heart melted slightly at the sight. She didn't know what it was about the girl, but Lily Potter almost always struck her as a lost kitten that needed to be picked up and pampered.

"Good morning Lily." She replied. The change was instantaneous. Lily grinned back at her and hurriedly moved to her side of the table. Astrid smiled and gently nudged Blake to move along the bench to make some room. "Would you like a seat?"

"Oh yes please! Thank you!" Lily settled down besides Astrid. Astrid discreetly glanced opposite the table where Scorpius sat facing her and Blake. He looked up just then, and scowled when she smirked at him.

One of the Sixth Year girls, Circe drawled carelessly, "Did your brother kick you out of your table?"

Lily looked up, startled at being addressed by her. "Um…no."

Circe still looked bored. "Then what are you doing here?"

Lily smiled back sweetly at her, a ruse she'd found most effective with Slytherins. "I wanted to talk to Astrid. Is there a problem?"

Circe scoffed. "Oh please, by all means, talk to whoever you like. I don't care."

Lily smiled again. "I didn't think so." Turning to Astrid, she took a deep breath. "Well, I really did need to talk to you, um…all three of you actually." She now glanced at Scorpius and Blake as well. "And I need to speak to Persephone, as well…but that's all right. She's not here but you are and it's better that I talk to you because you're here." Lily began to talk very fast as she was prone to do when nervous. Of course realizing that she was falling into her old trap of rambling simply made her more nervous and she trundled on. "And I'll talk to her when she's here because you know it makes no sense to talk to her when she's not here, and she's not…you know…here…. so I think well…oh bugger."

Scorpius let out a short laugh. He couldn't help it. He just couldn't. Had she any idea how adorable she was when she became all flustered like this. He looked straight at her now, noticing how her cheeks were dusted with a faint blush as she looked stricken at what was happening to her.

"Relax Red." Lily looked at him. "Take a deep breath." He leaned forward. His voice lowered a notch as he spoke, "We don't bite." He smirked with satisfaction as the blush intensified and she took a long breath before turning to Astrid once more. This time, more confidently.

"Well, the thing is, Rose has initiated a Student Volunteer program for NEWT level students. The idea is to help students facing difficulties with certain subjects by offering them tutors from amongst their peers." She stated the reason for her visit in simple terms. Astrid listened carefully. Suddenly she remembered Meredith, the Fifth Year Slytherin Prefect whinging about this 'initiative' just last night in the Common Room. The complaints had been peppered with an uninhibited rant on the idiocy "that stupid Mudblood" was causing.

"Is this compulsory?" Astrid questioned.

"No, it isn't but before you dismiss the programme there's a few things you should know, um…just a sec…" Lily had placed her bookbag down on the floor when she'd sat at the table and now she bent to retrieve her List for Convincing People to be Tutors from it. As she did so, Scorpius glanced at her in passing only to be arrested by the tantalising glimpse of her chest visible for the two seconds she took to pull the list out from a notebook. As she straightened, Scorpius immediately looked away only to find Raphael's eyes on him. Scorpius froze, his face a stony mask betraying nothing of his thoughts. Raphael watched him silently before sliding his gaze down to Lily and then back again. His lips turned up and he smiled as though he'd been let in on a secret. Scorpius looked away but not before he caught Raphael smirking widely.

By the time he had rearranged his thoughts, and pulled his wayward mind back to the mundane present, he could hear Astrid desperately trying to get away from Lily.

"You know I'd love to help Lily. I _really_ would but I just don't have the time, besides I'm not even that good at Runes. Persephone is good, she's great at Runes. You should ask her. Me, I'm barely making it myself. I don't know how much help I'd be to someone else."

"But Astrid, that's exactly the point. You can revise as you teach. And you'd be getting extra credits for it, think of how helpful that will be for you, especially in NEWT year and you get stellar recommendations from the teachers. Anywhere you go for a job, people are going to find glowing references because you tutored somebody." Lily pointed out, tapping her list with a quill.

Astrid grimaced. "Lily, I really wish I could help, but I can't. I'm really sorry." She stood. "I have to go." Swinging her bag over her shoulder she made a quick exit even as Raphael left the table directly after her. She didn't notice the two sheets of parchment that slipped out of her bag and fell to the floor directly in front of her perceived nemesis.

Raphael stopped and picked the sheets up smoothly. It was an essay for Runes and due today. Smirking, Raphael caught up to Astrid and grasped her elbow just as she was exiting the Great Hall.

Astrid turned around in surprise; her features twisting into a scowl when she noticed who it was that had stopped her. She whipped her elbow away from Raphael and glared at him.

"What do you think you're doing?" She bit out in barely concealed irritation.

"Tsk tsk Astrid. What's this? It's too early in the day to be sneering besides it doesn't suit you at all." Raphael finished smoothly. He felt a warmth course through his body as he saw her cheeks heat up in anger. Astrid's volcanic anger and the inimitable way in which she clamped it down was just one of the many things that intrigued him about her. Girls had never been a problem for him. Persuasion and art of convincing came easily to him but he'd never encountered someone with such emotional polarity. It was so entertaining. Talking to Astrid was like sitting on a powder keg with a lit cigarette; there would be an explosion eventually. It was inevitable.

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Look, I don't have time for your little games right now Raphael, so go bug somebody who cares, alright?" She turned to go.

"Should you care about your Runes essay or is this just flotsam floating about here?" He held the parchment up, waving it in her face. Astrid turned. Her eyes grew wide as she recognised her handwriting and strode towards Raphael, with her hand out.

"Give it back." She said shortly. Raphael smirked.

"Ah, so she does care." He turned the sheet over, stroking his chin as he did so.

"Just give it back Raphael." Astrid was becoming impatient.

"I think I'll take my time, you know, just look through it, see if it has any mistakes."

"Raphael, give it back or…." She trailed off as he looked up; the mirth all but disappeared from his eyes. Astrid cautiously stepped back. This was why she hated Raphael.

"Or what Astrid. What are you going to do?" His voice was just a faint whisper now, like the deadly hiss of a rattlesnake just before it struck.

Astrid took a deep breath. She shook her head as she tried to avoid any sort of trouble with him. If he got angry, he'd probably bundle her up and swing her upside down in the Slytherin Common Room. "Nothing. Nothing I just want my essay back. Just give it back."

Raphael watched her, calculating, measuring her as it were. He folded his arms across his chest. "No."

Her heart sank. "What?"

"No, I don't feel like giving it back to you." He replied nonchalantly.

"Look, Raphael, this isn't a joke. I have to turn it in. Now come on, stop being such a jerk and give it back."

"No. I don't think I will."

"Why not?"

Raphael didn't answer. He merely folded in parchment and stuffed it in his pocket. Smirking at the horrified Astrid, he began to saunter back into the great Hall. Astrid rushed after him to stop him before he entered the hall again.

"Okay, alright, look, just give it back Raphael, alright? I wasn't very polite about it but I'm requesting you to give it back, come on."

Raphael looked at her. His eyes wandered over her face, taking in the contrast of her ebony hair to her stark pale skin and her striking blue eyes, her straight nose and finally her plump lips, today covered with a fruity –looking gloss of some sort, strawberry, maybe?

Astrid looked away. She knew what he was doing and even though it annoyed the hell out of her, right now she wanted her essay back so she would ignore whatever he was doing and not pay attention to the way he seemed to be memorising the details of her face.

It suddenly occurred to Raphael that he shared very little in terms of conversation with Astrid. Sure, she was wary of him, and today she had surprisingly risen to the bait when she usually managed to rein herself in. But how long could he keep doing this? It was aggravating that his plea for her attention should be dependent upon inane and trivial things like stolen homework. He watched her curiously, turning over in his head all the little things he knew about her, things that she wasn't even aware of.

As she stood there beside him, watching, waiting for him to say something, he realized something.

"You know, it's probably a good thing that you aren't considering tutoring."

"Huh? What?" Astrid stared at him as though he'd just told her that he was heading a charity drive for Muggles hit by magic.

"Yeah, it was rather sneaky of you although I'm not surprised you decided to help him out. In for a knut, in for a galleon, eh?"

"Wait a minute. What are you on about?"

"Scorpius."

Astrid stared at him for a second before laughing nervously. "Okay I have no idea what you're talking about."

Raphael smirked, then jerked his head towards the Slytherin table where she could see Lily speaking to a very bored-looking Scorpius, who seemed to be completely unconvinced by what she was telling him.

Astrid blinked and then turned to Raphael, who was watching her with a strange glint in his eyes. "What exactly am I looking for?"

He smiled. "Wait and watch."

X

After Astrid's abrupt exit from the breakfast table, Lily had immediately latched onto Persephone, who had promptly told her that she simply had no time between her own studying and the extensive patrolling she was doing.

Lily began enthusiastically, "But Persephone, I'm sure Albus wouldn't mind if you didn't go for patrolling just one day in the week. I'm sure Rose can find a replacement…." She trailed off as Persephone stared back coldly at her. Lily swallowed. "Um…you know what…never mind." She groaned in defeat as Persephone glared balefully at her.

Blake snorted beside her. "Now why in the world would you tell Persephone that you could get her patrols with your brother cancelled?"

Lily nodded. "Yeah, you're right I guess. Cardinal error." She rolled her eyes and glanced towards her House table where Persephone had plastered herself on Albus' arm, much to the disgust of Rose, Roxanne and Hugo who looked a little sick each time her brother and his "girlfriend" on most days kissed. Shaking thoughts of Albus and Persephone (yuck) from her mind, Lily took a deep breath and suddenly fixed her attention to the boy sitting on the other side of the table.

She smiled winningly. "Scorpius?"

Scorpius smirked and shook his head. "No." And continued to eat his breakfast as though nothing had happened.

Lily sputtered. "But I haven't said anything yet!"

Scorpius smiled in amusement, "I know what you're going to say so let's just spare everybody the horror. No."

"How can you say that?" The dormant crusading spirit inside Lily rumbled to wakefulness as he casually declined the opportunity to help people.

"I don't want to waste a perfectly good evening by tutoring dumb people."

Lily gasped. "Oh my goodness, that is so rude."

Scorpius raised an eyebrow, grey eyes alight with mischief. "Is it?'

"Yes! How can you be so…so callous? Someone might need your help!"

"Yeah that's exactly why I don't go around helping people. You help somebody once and suddenly they're all over you." Scorpius leaned back in his seat. He glanced at Blake who shook his head, aware of what his fellow Slytherin was about. Scorpius glanced around. Lily had been at the Slytherin table for close to ten minutes now, surely there was something, or rather an obnoxious someone missing. Scorpius glanced about. Ah, there he was!

Lucas Jenner glared murderously at him even as Lily began to enumerate the many reasons why it was necessary that students reach out to help others if they were in any capacity to do so. Scorpius held his gaze for a minute before smirking at him. He then turned his attention back to the adorable redhead who was now expressing her disappointment at his attitude.

Blake straightened in his seat, the other Sixth years following in suit as somebody approached the table.

Predictably enough, it was Jenner. "Lily!"

Lily stopped speaking at once and turned. She smiled happily at the sight of her boyfriend. "Lucas!" She jumped up and immediately put her arms around his neck, hugging him affectionately. Scorpius ignored the impulse to gnash his teeth and clench his jaw as he spied Lucas's hands wander up Lily's sides from the corner of his eye.

"What are you doing here Lily?" Lucas held her tightly against his body whilst glaring daggers at the blond haired, grey-eyed boy sitting right in front of him.

Lily wriggled out of his grasp. "Oh. Um, you remember I told you that all Fifth Year Prefects have to recruit student volunteers to tutor weak students? Well I'm recruiting!" She ended happily, gesturing towards the Slytherins.

"Here?" He asked with scorn. The Slytherin table stilled and one by one they all looked up to glare at him.

Lily blinked, embarrassed at the open derision in his voice. "Lucas!" She tried to get him to quiet down. "That is not helping." She groaned inwardly as she saw Lucas tear down all the effort she'd put in. Slytherins as a rule weren't the most inviting of Houses, and who could blame them? With the prejudice they faced every single day and in every aspect of life, one really couldn't fault them for being aloof and cold-shouldered with the rest of the school. Sometimes, Lily wondered if it wouldn't be better to do away with the House system completely. It was really more trouble than it was worth.

Lucas looked at her. "You want tutors? Recruit from my house. None of them will refuse you." He smiled glibly. As Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, Lucas had a lot of pull within his House. If he asked anyone to help Lily out, they would, no questions asked.

Lily smiled at him. "That's' really sweet of you Lucas but I am supposed to recruit from Slytherin."

Lucas shook his head. Lily could be so naïve at times. "Nobody is going to mind Lily. And besides, you'll not have much luck with this lot anyway."

Lily frowned, fed up with Lucas's callow remarks. She'd just spent her entire morning trying to break the ice with the Slytherins only to have him saunter in and ruin everything. "Lucas! Stop…what's gotten into you?" She shook her head.

Lucas took a deep breath and pulled her away from the Slytherin table. He lowered his voice and whispered into her ear. "I don't want you hanging around with them Lily. They're bad news, all of them."

Lily folded her arms across her chest and stared back at him sternly. "Lucas, I think you should go."

"Lily! I'm worried about you."

She sighed and shook her head. Picking up her book bag, she turned to Scorpius, "I'll come talk to you at Lunch."

Scorpius shook his head. "Don't bother."

Lily fixed him with a look. "I said I'll come talk to you at lunch."

Scorpius smirked. "What about Galahad here?"

"I'll come alone."

"Lily!" Lucas exclaimed in disbelief.

"Come on Lucas, time to go." She took his arm and gently led him away from the Slytherin table. She didn't see the self-satisfied smirk on Scorpius's face nor the amused one on Raphael's face as he and Astrid watched quietly from the door.

Raphael turned to Astrid. "You see, he's reeling her in and she doesn't even realize it."

Astrid whirled to look at him. "Did you put her up to this?"

Raphael held his hands up. "I don't know what you're talking about." He stepped around her and walked away. Astrid could only watch in dismay as the pieces fell in place around her. Of course, it wasn't in Lily's nature to accept defeat without trying ten thousand times. Between trying to convince Scorpius to tutor and cooling her hot head boyfriend down, something would snap….something would break. What would it be?

X

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